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California entrepreneur accused of organizing ‘fighters’ for Jan. 6 riot takes plea deal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:02:05 GMT

A Ladera Ranch entrepreneur has admitted to teaming up with a former Orange County police chief and members of an extremist group in order to organize a group of “fighters” to travel to the U.S. Capitol, and on Wednesday pleaded guilty to his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.Russell Taylor admitted during a hearing at a federal courthouse in Washington D.C. to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding. He had previously faced numerous other federal charges, including obstruction, entering a restricted building and unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds.The plea deal requires that Taylor cooperate with law enforcement agencies, and notes that the charge he admitted to carries a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.Taylor’s attorney, Dyke Huish, indicated during Wednesday’s hearing that Taylor already has met with the government on at least four occasions, and later told a reporter that Taylor was “doing the right thing” and was there to “t...

Scott Baio selling California mansion for $3.5 million

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:02:05 GMT

Scott Baio has listed his Woodland Hills home of the last dozen years for $3.45 million.The 6,312-square-foot Mediterranean style has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and a new French country-style kitchen. According to property records, the actor best known for his iconic role as Chachi in “Happy Days” purchased the house in November 2010 for $1.85 million.Actor Scott Baio has listed his 6,312-square-foot Mediterranean-style home, center, in guard-gated Westchester County Estates in Woodland Hills for $3.45 million. (Google Earth) Lush roses, citrus trees, palms, bougainvillea and grassy areas surround the house, which backs up to a pool and a spa and sits on what the listing calls “one of the largest lots” in the guard-gated Westchester County Estates neighborhood.Completed in 1987, the house opens to reveal a foyer with a curved staircase. The living room beyond has a fireplace and towering arched windows. Interior French doors connect the living and dining rooms.Features of th...

Coachella 2023: Sunday headliner Frank Ocean drops out of Weekend 2

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:02:05 GMT

Hip-hop star Frank Ocean, who headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, April 16, announced Wednesday that he won’t return for a planned second performance on Sunday, April 23, according to reports in Variety and several other music publications.Variety also reported that pop-punk band Blink-182, which played a surprise set Friday, April 14 and was not expected to return for the second week, will possibly replace Ocean as headliner on Sunday.Ocean’s performance on Sunday at times delivered beautiful music to a field packed with fans eager to see the elusive R&B singer-songwriter perform live for the first time since 2017. But production problems plagued the show throughout, from starting an hour later than announced to its anticlimactic finish when Ocean was forced off the stage after he played 20 minutes past the Coachella sound curfew.Related ArticlesMusic | 25 must-see acts if you’re going to Coachella Weekend 2 Music | Coach...

Report: Southern California region again ranks as most ozone-polluted in US

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:02:05 GMT

It’s a title nobody wants, but the Los Angeles-Long Beach metropolitan area was again the most ozone-polluted region in the nation — with Western states also continuing to outpace the East in terms of poor air quality.That’s according to an annual air-quality report the American Lung Association released on Wednesday, April 19.The Los Angeles-Long Beach region has been ranked the nation’s worst ozone-polluted area in 23 of the 24 years that the association has produced its “State of the Air” report — though the Southland got a bit of good news this time:The area improved slightly from last year in terms of unhealthy ozone days and particle pollution days, the report said.The American Lung Association puts out a new “State of the Air” report every year around Earth Day. This year, the ALA analyzed three years’ worth of air quality data captured by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency monitoring systems to formulate “report cards” for cities across the nation.“The majority of U.S. cou...

Umpires explain Max Scherzer’s ejection for sticky substance in Dodgers-Mets game

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:02:05 GMT

New York Mets starting pitcher Max Scherzer was ejected in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s 5-3 victory over the Dodgers after umpires repeatedly checked the three-time Cy Young Award winner’s hand and glove for a sticky substance.Mets manager Buck Showalter said after the game that Scherzer was ejected for having rosin on his glove and Scherzer was adamant that it was nothing more than “sweat and rosin.” Scherzer says when he was asked to wash his hand, he did so with alcohol (at least once in front of an MLB official). If deemed to have violated the MLB rule on sticky substances, Scherzer faces an automatic 10-game suspension, which the eight-time All-Star told reporters after the game he would plan to appeal.This is a postgame interview between a pool reporter and home plate umpire/crew chief Dan Bellino and first base umpire Phil Cuzzi.Regarding the initial warning:BELLINO: At the conclusion of the second inning, as he walked off the field, Phil, the first base umpire, went to p...

Goldberg: Why Fox had to settle

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:02:05 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. — It is deeply disappointing that Fox News settled the defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems before Rupert Murdoch and his roster of celebrity propagandists had to testify. But it is not surprising. Fox News, after all, had no viable defense.On Tuesday, I arrived at Superior Court here at 7 a.m. to secure a seat for what I, like many others, hoped would be an epic trial about the falsehoods Fox aired after the 2020 election, when it accused Dominion and the voting technology company Smartmatic of perpetrating heinous voter fraud. Jury selection took all morning, and opening statements were scheduled for the afternoon.More than anything, I was curious about what Fox’s lawyers would say, because there seemed so little that they could say. Part of Fox’s sinister on-air brilliance is the way it encases its audience in a comprehensive alternative reality. But now, for once, the network would be forced to account for itself outside the right-wing bub...

Clarke: How could 21-year-old leak security data without Pentagon knowing?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:02:05 GMT

Speaking about the recent intelligence leak of classified documents by a member of the U.S. military, President Joe Biden downplayed the significance, remarking, “There’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that is of great consequence.”While it makes sense that the president would attempt to soft-pedal the fallout, the truth is that the Biden administration, Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community still don’t know the extent of what information is “out in the wild,” to use a term for classified information that has been put into public view. Most media organizations have access to about 50 documents, but the leak may comprise “hundreds and hundreds” of intelligence assessments, so our understanding of what happened and what is at risk may continue to evolve.When a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman named Jack Teixeira leaked these documents on Discord, an online gaming platform, he significantly compromised U.S. national security and that of ot...

Find a new home for now and forever

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:02:05 GMT

An important consideration in any home purchase is how long you plan to or hope to live in it. Is this going to be a starter home, a vacation home or a forever home?With enough foresight and planning, a new construction home could be all three; it might even serve as a home to pass down to other generations.For starters, by definition, “starter home” typically refers to the buyer’s first-time home purchase. It may also represent a couple’s first purchase of a home together, even if one person has already owned a home of their own.The buyer or buyers know from the outset that they don’t want to or cannot live in the home for more than 10, 20 or 30 years.A “forever” home represents the dwelling that the buyers plan to live in — or at least maintain ownership of — for an unlimited period of time.Whether a starter home or a forever home, new construction homes in California also include popular, contemporary features such as solar power, energy-efficient construction, technology, flexib...

Traffic incident sidelines gay footballer Jankto

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:02:05 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech Republic midfielder Jakub Jankto, who recently came out as gay, is taking time off from soccer following a traffic incident.Jankto’s Sparta Prague club said he was not with the team anymore and was given time to deal with his “personal situation.” Sparta declined to give more details and asked the public and media to respect Jankto’s privacy.Jankto said in a statement that his health didn’t make it possible to continue helping Sparta in title and cup races and thanked the club and the fans for their support.Police said he was checked by officers after they were notified by another driver on Tuesday. An alcohol test was negative but Jankto refused to be tested for other drugs.According to media reports, he also didn’t have a driver’s licence, which was taken from him previously by police. Failure to have a licence was punishable by a prison term.Jankto’s future was not clear.He was playing for Sparta Prague this season on loan from Spanish club G...

S&T Bancorp: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:02:05 GMT

INDIANA, Pa. (AP) — INDIANA, Pa. (AP) — S&T Bancorp Inc. (STBA) on Thursday reported first-quarter net income of $39.8 million.The Indiana, Pennsylvania-based bank said it had earnings of $1.02 per share.The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 96 cents per share.The holding company for S&T Bank posted revenue of $124.1 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $102 million, which fell short of Street forecasts._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on STBA at https://www.zacks.com/ap/STBASource