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Before power is back, deminers must make Ukraine's war repairs safe

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

Outside the village of Korovii Yar in eastern Ukraine, a team of engineers has to wait for several hours before it can carry out repair work on power lines damaged in fighting across territory that was, until last autumn, occupied by Russian forces.The delay is caused by the risk of unexploded ordnance in an area which saw heavy fighting and remains littered with anti-personnel and anti-tank mines left by retreating Russian troops.Clearing the whole of eastern Ukraine of such threats will take years, but as the country tries to restore power, water and heating to towns and villages cut off because of damage caused by the war, de-mining teams have to prioritise."First of all, it concerns critical infrastructure objects," Kostyantyn Apalkov, head of the de-mining unit under the State Emergency Service in Donetsk region, said on Monday (20 March)."These are objects such as power lines, gas pipelines, water pipes, and the like, as well as settlements where people live."As he spoke, eigh...

FOCL CBD Cream

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

Calling all CBD enthusiasts, because in this article, we are going to highlight the benefits of CBD Cream, specifically FOCL Relief Cream. If you are looking for a natural remedy to manage pain and reduce inflammation or discomfort, CBD Cream may be the perfect solution for you. If you are someone who loves CBD, I can bet you have heard of CBD Oil. However, did you know that applying CBD topically can be extremely beneficial? CBD Creams and Topicals can provide an additional benefit to your CBD routine. CBD creams have quickly become a popular choice due to their easy-to-use formula and ability to penetrate deep into the skin.We’ve rounded up everything you need to know about CBD Creams and have put together a list of all the key factors to consider when making your decision.What is CBD? CBD, or cannabidiol, is a naturally occurring compound found in the cannabis plant. Unlike THC, another well-known compound in cannabis, CBD is non-psychoactive, meaning it doesn’t produ...

Man arrested for inappropriate behavior in children’s section of Bay Area library

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

A 23-year-old Dixon man has been arrested following inappropriate behavior in the children’s section of the Dixon Public Library on Monday according to a Dixon Police Department press release.Elijah Rogers was arrested without incident as he exited his vehicle. Rogers was booked into the Solano County Jail and faces charges of violation of section 288 of the California Penal Code 288, Lewd and Lascivious Acts with a Child under 14, section 314.1, Indecent Exposure, and section 647.6, Annoying/Molesting Children.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Former Bay Area theater employee, center of scandalous 2013 child porn case, is sentenced to six years for 2020 arrest Crime and Public Safety | East Bay man charged with killing driver in wrong-way Highway 4 crash, fleeing onto nearby Pittsburg BART tracks Crime and Public Safety | San Pablo man shot in Oakland Crime and Public Safety | Bay Area jail inmate awaiting murder tr...

Opinion: Uber’s challenge to California labor law is just the beginning

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

In a stunning decision Friday that departs from nearly 90 years of Supreme Court decisions, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed a constitutional challenge to Assembly Bill 5, the 2019 California law meant to protect low-wage workers.The ruling is especially shocking and troubling because in 2021 the same court rejected exactly the same challenge to the same law. The turnabout in Friday’s decision is likely to open the door to constitutional challenges to countless state business regulations.The case, Olson v. State of California, was brought by Uber and Postmates to challenge AB 5’s requirements that drivers for those companies be treated not as independent contractors, but as employees subject to the protections of minimum wage, overtime, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and anti-discrimination laws.In a 2018 case involving truck drivers, the California Supreme Court adopted a three-part test for determining the status of a worker for purposes of state wa...

Santa Cruz police release details of officers’ shooting of suspected prowler

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — Ahead of criminal court proceedings for a Live Oak man who police shot at last month, Santa Cruz Police Department has revealed new audio and video footage.Released directly to its social media accounts, the department for the first time Tuesday aired select 911 audio and video clips from property surveillance, as well as officers’ dash-cam and vehicle body-worn cameras.After the shooting, the department initially remained tight-lipped with case details. Neither police nor their intended target, George Andrew Jaynes, 36, were injured in the shooting.Department authorities were releasing the recordings this week, however, in order to “bring additional context to the facts surrounding case 23S-00640,” an official is heard saying in the department-produced video.Jaynes, who pleaded not guilty last month to criminal charges of felony criminal threats, two counts of exhibiting a replica gun toward an officer and misdemeanor prowling, is scheduled to appear next in court for ...

California company fined $838,000 for failing to protect workers from cancer-causing gas

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

A Carson company that sterilizes medical devices has received 18 citations and civil penalties totaling $838,800 for failing to protect employees from overexposure to the cancer-causing chemical ethylene oxide, state officials announced Tuesday, March 21.A half-dozen of the citations issued to Parter Sterilization Services are for willful and intentional violations, according to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.“Our inspection showed this was not an isolated incident of chemical overexposure to workers,” Cal/OSHA Chief Jeff Killip said in a statement. “The employer failed to take action to protect employees even after it knew that some of them were exposed to dangerous levels of ethylene oxide.”Parter officials did not return a phone call seeking comment.Chronic exposure to ethylene oxide is associated with cancer, reproductive effects and neurotoxicity resulting in damage to the brain or peripheral nervous system. Its odor is undetectable to humans until it...

Potential 2024 presidential hopeful implores GOP not to overlook California

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

With the 2024 presidential election on the horizon, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is contemplating a run for the White House, has a message for Republicans in Orange County: “Californians will have a voice.”Hutchinson, 72, is swinging through Orange County this week as he develops his message about the country’s future and mulls a presidential bid. A decision on that, he said in an interview Tuesday, March 21, will come in April.But in the meantime, Hutchinson is visiting a blue California, speaking to a Republican Party of Orange County gathering and a Laguna Niguel Republican Women group this week before he headlines an event at the Nixon Library on Wednesday. And while here, he is imploring the national Republican Party to pay attention to California ahead of 2024.“California is important. We can’t simply be a party that appeals to middle America,” Hutchinson said, referring to what is typically seen as more conservative-leaning states not on either coast. “We have to ...

Los Angeles police to investigate how photos of undercover officers were released to anti-spying group

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

The chief and commissioners of the Los Angeles Police Department scrambled Tuesday, March 21 to explain how photos of officers doing undercover work were apparently released as part of a public records request for the names and photos of nearly every sworn member of the force.The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, a civil rights group and frequent department critic over its surveillance policies, published the names and photos of around 9,200 LAPD officers in a searchable database Friday, March 17. The group obtained the photos after they were released in September 2022 as part of a freelance journalist’s request under state transparency laws.In Tuesday’s Police Commission meeting, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the city was required to release the photos under the California Public Records Act. But he said didn’t know why the photos of the undercover officers were included in that release.Moore said he learned Friday the photos included officers “who work sensitive assignments.” He said the...

Strong winds, heavy rain pound Southern California – and it’s not over

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

A storm system that dropped widespread rainfall across Southern California on Tuesday will keep at it on Wednesday, with moderate rain expected for most of the region and heavy snowfall in the blizzard-weary San Bernardino mountains.Tuesday was a mixed bag: Intervals of heavy rain, then brief windows of sunshine, then additional rain and intense winds. There also was a sinkhole scare on the 5 Freeway in San Clemente, and warnings about waterspouts in Orange County and possible landspouts and hail in Los Angeles.Conditions could worsen before it’s over. The forecast for Big Bear was 18 to 24 inches of snow possible overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, and then 6 to 10 more inches that day.A prospective student nearly loses her umbrella as she walks across campus during a tour in the rain at the University of Redlands in Redlands on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)A student walks across campus in the rain at the University of Redlands in ...

Opinion: For Iraqis like me, U.S. invasion brought daily devastation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:31 GMT

In March 2003, I was in my second year at the University of Baghdad, studying engineering. The United States invaded Iraq and my dormitory emptied out, as we all returned home and waited to see what would happen.In my hometown of Basra, we watched U.S.-led coalition troops surging into the city. Yet people still couldn’t believe it — that longtime dictator Saddam Hussein was gone. For it to be real, we had to wait for Baghdad to fall and only once we saw that on television did we trust this new reality. On our screens, a coalition-run TV channel called al-Hurriya, or “Freedom” in Arabic, broadcast the iconic scene of Hussein’s statue in Baghdad being demolished and the bronze face covered by an American flag.Two decades on, we have learned that spectacle was mere propaganda, and that freedom cannot be imposed by an occupying force. And all these years later, I’m still struck by this contrast: The magnitude of what Iraqis lost — and continue to lose — and how vivid our memories are o...