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Martinez couple charged with $217k embezzlement from Berkeley auto repair shop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:41 GMT

OAKLAND — A Martinez couple has been charged with embezzling more than $217,000 from a Berkeley auto body shop, in a simple scheme that involved the defendants allegedly writing hundreds of checks to themselves from the business, court records show.Justin Durland and Bryanna Durland have each been charged with a single felony count of embezzlement over time from Berkeley Auto Body. Both have pleaded not guilty and have been released from jail while the charge is pending.They are set to appear in court in mid-August for a preliminary hearing, where a judge will review the case and determine if there is evidence to support the charge, court records show.Police allege that the two were employed at the auto body shop, but quit earlier this year after a dispute with the owner. After they quit, the owner reportedly discovered that the two had written and cashed 216 checks to themselves, totaling $217,554.64, from March 2022 to March 2023.Bryanna Durland, who was hired to do payroll ...

10 expert tips to sleep cooler in a heat wave

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:41 GMT

By Sandee LaMotte | CNNAre you waking up in a puddle of sweat — if you can sleep at all? That’s the grim reality for millions of people around the globe suffering through severe, unbearable heat waves.July is the hottest month on record for the planet and very likely the hottest period in 120,000 years, according to global climate authorities. “These are the hottest temperatures in human history,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, told CNN recently.It’s expected to get worse: A new study found the number of days of “dangerous heat” — defined as 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 degrees Celsius) — will more than double by 2050 in the midlatitude regions, which include Western Europe and countries such as China, Japan and the United States. Tropical areas could face those temperatures for the majority of the year.No relief at nightIt’s not just the unbearable sunshine — temperatures at night aren’t dropping as they should. Nights a...

'X' sign taken down from atop Twitter building

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:41 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A brightly lit "X" sign that was installed atop Twitter headquarters on Market Street Friday has been taken down as of Monday morning. Photos obtained by KRON4 taken from a nearby building and from the street below, show that the sign is gone.During its three days on top of the building, the X sign attracted controversy. One neighbor tweeted video of the sign's bright light and called it an "eye sore." Amid ‘X’ sign controversy, Musk says headquarters will remain in SF San Francisco city officials also opened an investigation and filed a complaint over the sign. City building inspectors reportedly were refused access to the building, which is located at 1355 Market Street, to inspect the sign.No official explanation for why the sign was taken down has been given.

X threatens to sue researchers who documented hate speech on Twitter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:41 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has threatened to sue a group of independent researchers whose research documented an increase in hate speech on the site since it was purchased last year by Elon Musk. Nima Momeni: Live updates from inside the courtroom An attorney representing the social media site wrote to the Center for Countering Digital Hate on July 20 threatening legal action over the nonprofit’s research into hate speech and content moderation. The letter alleged that CCDH’s research publications seem intended “to harm Twitter’s business by driving advertisers away from the platform with incendiary claims.”Musk is a self-professed free speech absolutist who has welcomed back white supremacists and election deniers to the platform, which he renamed X earlier this month. But the billionaire has at times proven sensitive about critical speech directed at him or his companies.The center is a nonprofit with office...

New Hampshire beachgoers witness small plane crash into surf, flip in water

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:41 GMT

HAMPTON BEACH, N.H. (AP) — A small plane that crashed into the ocean just off a New Hampshire beach over the weekend flipped upside down when it hit the water before slowly rolling back into an upright position.The pilot of the single-engine Piper PA-18 plane that had been pulling a banner advertising a concert made his own way out of the aircraft after Saturday’s noontime crash and was assisted ashore by Hampton Beach lifeguards who moments before had been keeping a close eye on swimmers.The pilot was evaluated at the scene but was not hurt, police said.The plane had been buzzing over the crowded beach all morning dragging a banner for an Eagles tribute band playing Saturday night at a local venue, said Tammy Nowlan of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, who was at the beach with her boyfriend and caught video of the crash on her phone.When the plane dropped the banner, she knew something was wrong.“I remember my boyfriend saying, ‘Looks like something fell off that plane,'” Nowl...

4 separatist Bosnian Serb leaders are sanctioned by US Treasury for undermining a 1995 peace deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:41 GMT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The U.S. on Monday imposed sanctions on four ranking Bosnian Serb officials for undermining a 1995 peace agreement that ended a war that left more than 100,000 dead and millions homeless.The four officials sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury include Zeljka Cvijanovic, a Serb member of the tripartite collective Bosnian presidency, as well as the prime minister of the Serb entity in Bosnia, Radovan Viskovic.The four are alleged to have taken part in drafting a law that U.S. and other international officials say undermines the unity of Bosnia by ignoring the decisions of the country’s constitutional court.The Bosnian Serb parliament has passed the law to not recognize or implement any decisions by Bosnia’s multi-ethnic Constitutional Court. “This action threatens the stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the hard-won peace underpinned by the Dayton Peace Agreement,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terror...

‘Ferocious storm’: Part of GW Parkway could be closed for days, thousands in DC region still without power

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:41 GMT

Listen live to WTOP for the latest on storm damage and outages.The D.C. region continues to recover after a severe storm ripped through the area on Saturday, toppling trees, and knocking out power for thousands across the area. Here’s what you need to know.Traffic Impact: Parts of the George Washington Memorial Parkway are closed Monday as crews remove trees, branches and other debris from the road — and the closure could last most of the week.Current Outages: As of Monday afternoon, power outages continue for around 4,000 Pepco customers in Maryland and D.C.; about 1,700 Dominion Energy customers in Northern Virginia and 1,200 total BGE customers in Maryland.Cleanup to close George Washington Parkway for daysPart of the George Washington Parkway has been shuttered as crews work to clear trees and other debris that have fallen across the roadway.The North Parkway, from Spout Run Parkway to the Beltway, remains closed — except for the northbound lanes from Route 123 to the Belt...

Wild, Gustavsson agree to a 3-year, $11.25M contract to avoid arbitration with young goalie

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:41 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Wild signed goalie Filip Gustavsson to a three-year, $11.25 million contract on Monday, avoiding salary arbitration after his strong first season with the club.The Wild have little room left on their salary cap after accounting for Gustavsson’s $3.75 million annual average value.The 25-year-old made 37 starts last season, going 22-9-7 with three shutouts, a 2.10 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. He had a shutout streak of 177 minutes, 13 seconds across four games from Feb. 28 to March 12, the third-longest in franchise history.Gustavsson, who is from Sweden, was acquired a year ago in a trade with Ottawa for goalie Cam Talbot. He was 2-3 in five starts in the playoffs, including a 51-save performance in a double overtime win over Dallas in Game 1 of the first-round series.___AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Stuart Broad enjoys fitting end to career by leading England to series-tying win in final Ashes test

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:41 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Wearing his familiar white headband, Stuart Broad roared in — knees pumping — to send down one last delivery in his brilliant cricket career.Broad, one of England’s greatest-ever players, wasn’t going to let this moment pass him by. Not in the final test of an Ashes series, the kind of match this 37-year-old pace-bowling warrior has lived for.It’s 604 test wickets and out for Broad after he took the match-clinching wicket to earn England a series-tying victory late in the last session of the fifth and final test against Australia on Monday.England bowled out Australia for 334 and claimed a 49-run win to secure a 2-2 draw in an Ashes series that had pretty much everything.“You wonder what your last ball will be,” said Broad, who announced Saturday that he would be retiring after this match to end his 18-year career, “so to take a wicket to win an Ashes test match is pretty cool.”The Australians, who still haven’t won an Ashes series in England si...

Organization of Islamic Cooperation mulls proposals to deal with Quran burning at emergency meeting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:34:41 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Iraq’s foreign minister called Monday for the Organization for Islamic Cooperation to form a committee for talks with the European Union over its member countries permitting the desecration of the Quran and to enlist volunteers to file lawsuits to halt the practice.Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein also called on the United Nations to “take measures to prevent these incidents.”Hussein made his statement during an emergency online meeting of foreign ministers from the Jeddah-based organization to discuss recent incidents in which the Islamic holy book was burned or otherwise defaced at officially permitted protests in Sweden and Denmark.The body did not issue any decision or official statement after Monday’s meeting.Ahead of the meeting, two men who had previously burned a copy of the Quran in Sweden did so once again, in front of a crowd of a few dozen onlookers and about 20 counter-protesters.In both Sweden and Denmark, t here is no law against blasphemy, and freedom of ...