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Skelton: California lawmakers aren’t fooling anyone with budget charade

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

The California Legislature has passed another so-called on-time state budget. Wink, wink. It’s barely a half-baked budget.Voters in 2010 passed a ballot measure that required lawmakers to adopt an annual budget by June 15 or they wouldn’t be paid.Ever since, they’ve followed the letter of the law, but not the spirit. On party-line votes, they’ve passed the broad outline of a budget before their deadline, but without the needed details on many disputed items.In the Capitol, it’s dubbed the “paycheck” budget.The negotiated nitty-gritty comes later in “trailer” bills. And dollar amounts are updated in a “budget junior” that amends the original paycheck version.So, the politicians have found a legal way around the voters’ edict. They still get paid, but it has become common for the budget — that takes effect July 1 — not to be completely wrapped up until late August or even September, at the end of the legislators’ annual session.The truth is, however, that their new budgeting process i...

Heavy drinkers really don’t ‘handle their liquor,’ study says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

Heavy drinking does slow mental processing and motor skills, even if the person is used to alcohol. Heavy drinking does slow mental processing and motor skills, even if the person is used to alcohol. (CNN) — It’s a misnomer that heavy drinkers can “hold their liquor,” a new study found.Instead, people with alcohol use disorder — what used to be called alcoholism — were significantly impaired on cognitive and motor tests up to three hours after downing an alcoholic drink designed to mimic their typical habits.“It seems to be a popular perception that experienced drinkers can handle their liquor — like two cowboys in a bar in a drinking competition, and they have some macho strength to take in so much alcohol and ha...

Pedestrian in wheelchair struck, killed during hit-and-run in Prince George’s Co.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

A person in a wheelchair was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Hyattsville, Maryland, during the pre-dawn hours on Saturday morning.An unidentified driver struck the pedestrian nearby University Boulevard and Riggs Road on June 17. Prince George’s County police said officers responded to the crash at around 3:20 a.m.The pedestrian was in the roadway, but police didn’t say if the person was in the crosswalk at the time of the crash. Police said the person died at the scene.After the crash, the driver of the striking vehicle, which police described as a silver Volkswagen, left the scene.The pedestrian hasn’t been publicly identified, as police work to notify the person’s family.Police are asking anyone with information to call the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit at 301-731-4422. Anonymous tipsters can call 1-866-411-TIPS (8477), or go online at www.pgcrimesolvers.com.Here’s a map of where police said the crash happened. Source

Former 2nd-ranked tennis player Anett Kontaveit retiring because of a back injury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Former second-ranked tennis player Anett Kontaveit will retire after Wimbledon because of a back injury.The 27-year-old Estonian has lumbar disc degeneration and said it “does not allow for full-scale training or continued competition.”“Today I am announcing that I am ending my career as a competitive athlete,” she posted on Instagram. “It is impossible to continue at the top level in such a highly competitive field.”Kontaveit’s best result in a Grand Slam tournament was reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals in 2020.Wimbledon starts on July 3.___More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Stewart-Haas Racing shuffles NASCAR team crew chief lineup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Stewart-Haas Racing made a flurry of organizational changes to its crew chief lineup Tuesday that begin this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway and are aimed at improving the team in time to qualify its drivers for the playoffs. Kevin Harvick, who is retiring at the end of the season, is the only SHR driver currently eligible to make the 16-driver playoff field. The changes were announced one day before SHR is expected to name Xfinity Series regular Josh Berry, who recently filled in for Chase Elliott when he was injured, will replace Harvick next year in the No. 4 Ford. Among the changes made was Xfinity Series crew chief Richard Boswell was promoted to crew chief Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 team in the Cup Series. Boswell had been the crew chief for SHR’s No. 98 Xfinity Series team with driver Riley Herbst, but Boswell guided Briscoe to eight Xfinity Series wins from 2018 to 2020.Boswell has been crew chief for Herbst since 2021.John Klausmeier, who h...

Hunter Biden agrees to plea deal on federal tax, gun charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

Hunter Biden, President Biden's son, will plead guilty to tax crimes and unlawful possession of a weapon in a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, according to court papers filed Tuesday.The plea deal, which must be accepted by a judge, would likely keep Hunter Biden out of jail.Hunter Biden, 53, has been under investigation for tax matters since 2018, according to The Associated Press. He reportedly paid off his tax liability in 2020.Hunter Biden was charged with two counts of willful failure to pay income tax. The third charge stems from possession of a firearm in 2018, a weapon he was in possession of while using crack cocaine. The president's son has denied drug use when applying to secure the gun.The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.DEVELOPING

CPW: Boaters watch out for car in Arkansas River

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KXRM) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife is warning boaters in the Royal Gorge area about a car that rolled into the Arkansas River and will likely be a hazard until it can be removed.CPW posted about the car on Facebook on Monday along with accompanying photos of the nearly submerged car.CPW said the car is in the river about half a mile below the Parkdale boat ramp, halfway to the Highway 50 bridge. It is just right of the middle of the river and is mostly covered in water. It will likely be entirely covered as the water level rises, CPW said. Moose dies after jumping from 2nd-story deck CPW warned that from far away the car will look like a flat rock barely below the surface, which should give boaters plenty of time and space to get around it to the left if they know what to look for.Courtesy: Colorado Parks and WildlifeCourtesy: Colorado Parks and WildlifeCPW said the car will not be removed from the river until the water level drops, so boaters should be aware i...

The family of Keenan Anderson, who died after being tased by LAPD officers, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

(CNN) — The family of a 31-year-old father who died after being tased by Los Angeles police officers is suing the city and members of the department over his death, their attorneys announced on Monday.The wrongful death lawsuit claims officers reacted inappropriately when they repeatedly tased Keenan Anderson, cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, in early January, according to civil right attorney Ben Crump.Anderson, an English teacher who was visiting Los Angeles from Washington DC, lost consciousness shortly after he was tased at the site of a traffic collision in Los Angeles’ Venice neighborhood.He was taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the county medical examiner’s office.Anderson’s manner of death remains undetermined, but the coroner found that he died of an enlarged heart and cocaine use. An autopsy conducted at the behest of the family lawyers reached the same conclusion, attorney Carl Douglas said.“Had he not been ta...

Hunter Biden charged with failing to pay federal income tax and illegally having a weapon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s son Hunter has been charged with failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon and has reached an agreement with the Justice Department, according to letter filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware.As part of the agreement, made public Tuesday, Hunter Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and is expected to reach an agreement with prosecutors on the felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. It is somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time the charges are filed in court, though it is not totally unheard of.The deal ends a long-running Justice Department investigation into Biden’s second son, who has acknowledged struggling with addiction following the 2015 death of his brother Beau Biden. It also averts a trial that would have generated days or weeks or distracting headlines for a White House that has strenuously sought to keep its distance from the Justice Depa...

South Korean man attempted to open plane door mid-flight. Luckily, he failed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

Seoul/ Hong Kong (CNN) — A 19-year-old Korean man tried to open a plane door mid-flight after complaining that he felt “pressure” on his chest, but luckily, the cabin crew stopped him.The passenger, who was on a red-eye flight from Cebu in the Philippines to Seoul, South Korea, was “acting strangely” about an hour into the flight, so he was moved to the front row of the plane close to the exit door where staff could monitor him, officials from Jeju Airlines said.After moving seats, the man suddenly ran towards the emergency door and tried to open, but he was “immediately subdued by the crew, who used a lasso rope and tie wraps to keep him controlled for the rest of the flight,” a Jeju Airlines official said.The door stayed closed and the plane was left undamaged, and none of the 180 passengers on board were harmed in the incident, the airline added.The passenger was handed over to police at Seoul’s Incheon Airport at 7:30 a.m. local after the plane landed on Monday, June 19.Police b...