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A California county dismissed 1,700-plus criminal cases in 6 months. Who’s to blame?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:57 GMT

To say the wheels of justice turn slowly assumes the wheels move at all.They ground to a halt more than 1,700 times in Riverside County since October. That’s the number of criminal cases — including felonies — thrown out by county Superior Court judges in the past six months.In most cases, this means defendants charged with crimes from misdemeanor DUI to child sexual assault — as well as crime victims — don’t get their day in court, though felonies can be refiled.District Attorney Mike Hestrin blames the dismissals on inflexible judges who he said failed to manage an onslaught of cases after expiration of a statewide order that helped courts handle the coronavirus pandemic.Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin talks Monday, April 10, 2023, about recent criminal case dismissals and why it’s happening. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin on Monday, April 10, 2023, discusses recent criminal case dismissals a...

Stagecoach 2023: Brooks & Dunn return to the desert and they’re ready to party

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:57 GMT

To be fair, country singer-songwriter Ronnie Dunn admits straight away that he only vaguely remembers playing the very first Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio back in 2007.“Back then, before we took our hiatus, we were running so hard that everything was a blur,” Dunn, half of country music duo Brooks & Dunn, said during a recent phone interview. He and his longtime musical partner Kix Brooks will be back to play the three-day fest at the Empire Polo Club on Sunday, April 30, going on just before closing headliner Chris Stapleton.“I had people here in my office telling me, ‘You played the first one,’ and maybe I shouldn’t tell anyone that I don’t remember it, but the shows out West and in California, they always turn into a blur because they are so much fun,” he continued. “The crowds are so much different out there than anywhere else. I remember calling home to my wife one time and she still makes fun of me for this, but the first few times we were out in California, I...

Man suspected of sexually assaulting children in Southern California hotels for decades

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:57 GMT

A 57-year-old man faces child sexual abuse charges after authorities accused him of grooming women to babysit children and bring them to him in hotel rooms so he could molest them, authorities said Friday, April 24.Officials said they believe the sexual assaults have occurred over several decades, and are seeking the public’s help in identifying more possible victims, Kimberly Edds, spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.Jason Valentine Esparza was charged with three counts of attempted oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child 10 years or younger and two counts of attempted forcible lewd act on a child under 14 following his April 7 arrest in Huntington Beach, said Kimberly Edds, spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.Prosecutors accused Esparza of grooming women to babysit children as young as 4-years old, Edds said. The babysitters would bring the children to hotel rooms where Esparza was accused of molesting them.Huntington...

Suspected catalytic converter thief is stabbed to death by California homeowner

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:57 GMT

A man suspected of trying to steal a catalytic converter was stabbed to death by a resident early Friday morning in South El Monte, authorities said.Two other suspects fled. Deputies detained the resident for questioning, Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Gomez said.The coroner’s office has not yet identified the dead man, who Gomez described as between 45 to 50 years old.The suspect, stabbed in his upper torso, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Los Angeles County Fire Department.The confrontation was reported in the 1100 block of Thienes Avenue at 2:37 a.m. The resident had heard noises coming from the front of his house, took a kitchen knife and went out, Gomez said. “He is confronted by two to three individuals,” the lieutenant said, adding that the suspects were swinging what may have been the handle of a car jack at the resident.Deputies found a man lying in a driveway near an older model Honda Accord with tools around him, Gomez said. The two other suspects left in a small compact car,...

Palo Alto: Shoplifting suspect arrested after allegedly crashing into police car, flipping vehicle

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:57 GMT

PALO ALTO — A San Francisco woman was arrested Tuesday after she allegedly stole nearly $4,000 worth of sunglasses before fleeing from police, resulting in an injured police officer and a rollover crash, police said.Palo Alto police responded about 10:40 a.m. Tuesday to a report of a shoplifting in progress at the Macy’s department store at 180 El Camino Real in the Stanford Shopping Center, the department said. A store employee told police that the suspect, a 35-year-old woman, fled in a vehicle.An officer found the woman driving in the 2800 block of Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park about 10 minutes later and performed a traffic stop. The woman exited her vehicle after pulling over and had a brief conversation with an officer before she walked away and sat in her vehicle’s driver’s seat.Police said the officer commanded her to comply multiple times and she refused. She then reversed the car into the police patrol vehicle, striking the passenger-side front corner while...

Shooting near 4/20 celebrations being investigated by SFPD

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:57 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A shooting that occurred at Haight and Cole streets on Thursday is being investigated, according to San Francisco Police Department Investigations Deputy Chief Raj Vaswani. The shooting occurred just after 1 p.m. Thursday, in the midst of the city's massive 4/20 celebration on Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park. Millbrae 6th grade teacher arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting students Gunfire was exchanged between individuals, possibly in relation to a vehicle break-in, Vaswani said. Police found various caliber casings on the scene. Police are unaware of any injuries at this time. Everyone involved in the shooting fled the scene before police arrived.

Top seed Rune and Fritz advance to BMW Open semis

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:57 GMT

MUNICH (AP) — Danish teenager Holger Rune comfortably reached the semifinals of the BMW Open in beating Chilean player Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-4 on Friday. The top-seeded Rune, at a career-high No. 7 in the rankings, advanced to a meeting with Christopher O’Connell, who overcame Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 to achieve his second career semifinal. Second-seeded Taylor Fritz will play Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp in the other semi.Fritz defeated Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-3, 6-4 in their quarterfinal. Thiem also had to play earlier Friday to finish his suspended second-round match against Marc-Andrea Huesler. Thiem won that match 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 before joking “it was a great warmup, little bit longer than usual.”Van de Zandschulp defeated American player Marcos Giron 7-6 (5), 6-3. ___ More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Source

It’s the vinyl countdown for Saturday’s Record Store Day

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:57 GMT

For a lot of music fans who prefer their recordings on vinyl, Friday is like Christmas Eve.Saturday is Record Store Day — the chance for music fans to latch onto rare vinyl recordings, and an opportunity for independent record store owners to engage with people who value being able to hold their music in their hand, rather than having it stored on a digital playlist.Some of the most coveted Record Store Day releases included a hot pink version of Taylor Swift’s “1989.” Only 2,500 copies were released on Record Store Day in 2018.The first 5,000 copies of rapper turned actor Childish Gambino’s “Because the Internet” were released as part of Record Store Day in 2014, as a “RSD First” release, with the general release shortly after.Sheila Hunt, manager of The Record Exchange in Silver Spring, Maryland, says while rare releases from favorite artists are a big draw, the hope is first-time RSD shoppers will spend some time browsing through cr...

Peru ex-leader Toledo surrenders to be extradited from US

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:57 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Manrique surrendered to U.S. federal agents Friday to be extradited to Peru, where he faces charges of accepting millions of dollars in bribes as part of a mammoth corruption scandal in which four of Peru’s ex-presidents have been implicated.Toledo’s surrender ends a yearslong legal battle against his extradition, which started in 2019 when he was arrested at his home in Menlo Park, California. Federal prosecutors have said Peruvian officials will travel to Northern California to pick up Toledo and fly him back to Peru. It’s not immediately known when that will happen.Toledo, who was Peru’s president from 2001 to 2006, is accused of taking at least $20 million in bribes from Odebrecht, a giant Brazilian construction company that has admitted to U.S. authorities that it bribed officials to win contracts throughout Latin America for decades. He has denied the charges. He had sought a stay on his extradition...

Colorado had one of the highest drug abuse rates in 2021

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:57 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Colorado's problems with fentanyl overdoses in the past three years make more sense given the share of its residents who have drug abuse disorders. Colorado no longer nation’s cocaine capital More than one in every ten Coloradans (10.44%) had a drug use disorder in 2021, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This is the seventh-highest rate among U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Only Alaska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Vermont and the District of Columbia have higher rates. In Alaska, nearly 13% of people 12 and older had a drug use disorder in 2021.Coloradans' attitudes toward drug use run the gamut from lenient to risky, depending on the drug in question. As an early legalizer of recreational marijuana, attitudes on marijuana use are lax. Fewer than one in five (18.15%) Coloradans over the age of 12 perceive a great risk from smoking marijuana once a month. On...