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Bestselling author thwarts Calabasas home invasion; would-be burglars caught on camera

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:59 GMT

A Calabasas homeowner and author thwarted a home invasion Thursday night thanks to cameras in his yard, and the would-be burglars were caught on video.Lee Goldberg was home with his wife and daughter, when around 9:20 p.m., they got a notification on their iPad from their motion sensor.But it wasn’t the occasional bobcat or coyote they’re used to seeing. Goldberg's cameras captured four masked men climbing up a steep hillside into his backyard.They were dressed in hoodies, gloves and appeared to even be matching, the bestselling author of crime thrillers told KTLA.Video provided by Lee Goldberg shows would-be theives crawl out of bushes in Calabasas on Aug. 10, 2023. But this was not fiction. Goldberg had become a real-life character he often writes about in his novels.“They looked organized, they looked professional,” he said.That’s when he alerted authorities, and the would-be theives turned around and went right back down the hill they came from.Goldberg said he thinks they saw h...

Man seen on TikTok video lurking near women's legs in Burbank store arrested

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:59 GMT

A man who was captured on a TikTok video lurking near women’s legs at a Burbank bookstore was arrested on Friday.The suspect’s name was not released, but Burbank Police confirmed the man believed to be responsible was located and arrested in Glendale.“The incident was reported directly to the Burbank Police and has been under investigation,” police said. “The incident was captured on video and viewed as an invasion of privacy. Investigators are also aware of other potential victims.”In a video posted to social media, the victim, 28-year-old Michaela Witter, was shopping at a Barnes & Noble on Aug. 7 when she noticed a strange man had been following her around.A TikTok video captures a man lurking extremely close to a woman's legs while she was shopping in a Burbank Barnes & Noble. (Michaela Witter)A TikTok video captures a man lurking extremely close to a woman's legs while she was shopping in a Burbank Barnes & Noble. (Michaela Witter)A TikTok video captures a man lurking extre...

4 men arrested for murder and robbery of Long Beach man

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:59 GMT

Four suspects were arrested on Friday in connection with the murder of a man that took place on July 11 in Long Beach. According to a Long Beach police department news release, authorities arrested two adult men, 18-year-old Luis Jesus Hernandez-Perez of Long Beach and 18-year-old Dangelo Antolin Rodriguez of Lakewood, Washington and two juvenile men, a 16-year-old and 17-year-old of Long Beach. On July 11 near Loma Vista Drive and Corvo Court, several men physically assaulted the victim, 26-year-old Canaan Oryema Okatch of Long Beach, and fired multiple gunshots toward him, resulting in the victim’s death. The suspects fled the scene before officers arrived. Hernandez-Perez and Rodriguez were charged with murder and robbery and the juvenile men were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and robbery.  Both juveniles are being held without bail, while Hernandez-Perez is being held on $2,000,000 bail and Rodriguez is being held on $3,000,000 bail. Authorit...

Why Hip-Hop Has Many Fathers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:59 GMT

They “don’t mean to brag, don’t mean to boast” — but 50 years later, pretenders to the hip-hop throne are, in a roundabout way, taking the rap for perpetuating one of the longest feuds in Black cultural history.Rap music, rap, or rappin’, the rhyming locution of inner-city neighborhood youth that was, to pimp a line from Audre Lorde, created out of their will to survive on Black terms in early 1970s New York, purportedly turns 50 today. Purportedly, because along with that historic milestone has come its own dysfunctional family of putative patriarchs, each challenging the notion of a single creator of rap music, each assuring that an enduring noise over the validity of the tales told by the genre’s self-avowed founding fathers will continue to beg the question “Who’s your daddy?” — or your mama? —for years to come. While vying for recognition, myriad mountebanks and triflers, who came late to one of the longest feuds in Black cultural history, are bragging and boasting with self-ri...

Don Blankenship Calls on the United States Supreme Court to Reign In the Politico-Media Complex

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:59 GMT

The Growing Threat to Democracy Posed by Irresponsible Journalism, Shielded Behind New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)Sullivan Sets the StageThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” Prior to 1964 that guarantee had never shielded the press from being held civilly liable for publishing a defamatory statement. But in 1964, 173 years after the Constitution was written the United States Supreme Court unconstitutionally constitutionalized defamation in the case of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.  The New York Times had published multiple defamatory claims against the Montgomery Police Department in an advertisement paid for by civil rights activists. Montgomery Police Commissioner L. B. Sullivan sued the newspaper alleging that the libelous publication impugned his character and damaged his reputation as police commissioner. An Alabama jury decided in Sullivan’s favor. The ...

3-year-old on Texas migrant bus dies on way to Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:59 GMT

By Paul J. Weber | Associated PressAUSTIN, Texas — A 3-year-old child riding one of Texas’ migrant buses died while on the way to Chicago, officials said Friday, the first time the state has announced a death since it began shuttling thousands of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border last year.Texas authorities confirmed a child’s death in a statement Friday but did not say where the child was from or why they became ill. The Illinois Department of Public Health said the child was 3 years old and died Thursday in Marion County, in the southern part of that state.“Every loss of life is a tragedy,” the Texas Division of Emergency Management said in a statement. “Once the child presented with health concerns, the bus pulled over and security personnel on board called 9-1-1 for emergency attention.”The child received treatment from paramedics and later died at a hospital, according to the agency. The bus departed from the Texas border city of Brownsvil...

Man arrested after deadly shooting at Lake Merritt BART station

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:59 GMT

OAKLAND — A man arrested in a deadly shooting at the Lake Merritt BART station allegedly told an acquaintance he shot the man because he tried to steal his electric scooter, court documents show.Juan Martinez, 45, was taken into custody on Tuesday about an hour and a half after the shooting. Prosecutors have charged him with murder, felony criminal threats and several sentencing enhancements, and he remains held at Santa Rita Jail without bail.The Alameda County Coroner’s Office had yet to identify the man killed in the shooting by Friday afternoon. He was shot in the back and declared dead just minutes after BART police were dispatched, according to court papers.Before the shooting, investigators say the Martinez appeared to spend several minutes arguing with the victim near the BART station’s street-level elevator, according to court documents.Surveillance footage shows Martinez pull a handgun from his backpack and try loading it before putting it back in his bag...

Cameron Smith opens with 66 to lead LIV Golf at Trump Bedminster

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:59 GMT

BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — Cameron Smith bounced back from his worst finish of the year with a 5-under 66 on Friday, giving him a one-shot lead over Charles Howell III at LIV Golf-Bedminster.Smith finished 35th last week at The Greenbrier. He had never been to the Trump National course at Bedminster — Smith joined LIV Golf a month after the event last year at Trump National — but he found the course and his game more to his liking.“Just a really solid round,” Smith said. “Wasn’t out of position much. Maybe missed a few fairways, but found myself on the green most of the times and having a look at birdie. A little bit different to last week, which was the goal, especially today.”Howell had the lead for part of the day until making two bogeys over his last four holes, one of them on a par 5. Howell, like Smith, has one LIV victory this year. He won the season opener at Mayakoba, but has had only two top 10s his last nine starts.Bryson DeChambeau, coming off a 58 on the final day at The G...

Former big league slugger José Bautista signs one-day contract to retire with Blue Jays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:59 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Former big league slugger José Bautista signed a one-day contract so he could retire with the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, one day before his name is added to the team’s level of excellence.The 42-year-old Bautista played for eight teams during 15 seasons in the majors, making his final appearance with Philadelphia in 2018. He hit .247 with 344 homers and 975 RBIs in 1,798 games.“I think everybody knew for a while that I had been retired, but this is a way to make it official,” Bautista said Friday.Pittsburgh’s 20th round pick in the 2000 amateur draft, Bautista made his big league debut in 2004, when he bounced between four teams in one season. The Pirates traded him to Toronto in 2008. In return, Pittsburgh got catcher Robinzon Díaz, who made 43 appearances over two seasons.Bautista, meanwhile, turned into one of the game’s most feared sluggers while playing home games north of the border. The six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger swatted 288 homers during...

Raiders defense forces multiple interceptions from Purdy, other 49ers QBs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:59 GMT

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane played the previous four seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers and knows as much as anyone what a strong defense looks like.He came to Las Vegas in the offseason to play for a defense that is … well, it’s not the Steelers.But after the Raiders spent Thursday and Friday creating takeaways and giving the San Francisco 49ers’ offense plenty of problems, maybe their defense isn’t quite what it has been.Spillane said he sees the same kind of passion with the Raiders’ defense that he experienced in Pittsburgh.“We’ve got guys who don’t want to be known as the 30th defense in the league,” Spillane said. “We want to be up there with the best, and we just go day by day getting better each day. It’s a continual process throughout the season.”The season will be the ultimate determinator if whether Las Vegas’ defense has improved and by how much. Two practice days in August, even against one of the ...