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Chino Valley school board enacts controversial book 'ban' policy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:15 GMT

The Chino Valley Unified School Board has voted to create a process that could lead to books and other teaching materials getting pulled over “sexually obscene” content, or even political material.The controversial policy, which some critics equate to a book ban, was enacted Thursday night and lays out steps for how schools deal with complaints lodged by parents and students. When someone comes forward, the student is first excused from using the material in question, the new policy states. Ultimately, a district panel comprised of administrators, teachers, librarians and community members could decide to remove it permanently.Among the reasons teaching material could get banned include not being deemed "age-appropriate," being "contrary to the moral and ethical standards generally held by the community," or presenting "one-sided" political views. In July, Chino Valley's right-leaning board enacted another controversial policy - one that would have required schools to notify parents...

From Devo to Dolly — The New LA Weekly Playlist is Live

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:15 GMT

From Devo to Dolly: The 183rd LA Weekly playlist, reviewing the musicians that we’ve been writing about all week, is live now. There’s electronic music from LP Giobbi, hip-hop from Megan Thee Stallion and Monaleo, pop from Mindless Behavior, punk from Geza X and Devo, and so much more.Find us on Spotify here,or on Soundcloud here.Don’t forget to “Like” the playlists and “Follow” the profiles.Dolly Parton (Courtesy of Butterfly Records / Photos by Vijat Mohindra)From Devo to DollyAlso this week:Cover star Dolly Parton told us that, “I had often thought that I’d maybe like to do a rock album, because my husband is a huge rock & roll fan. Off and on, I used to think, maybe someday I’ll do a rock album. Then I started getting older, and then I thought, “Well, it’s probably too late now.’ I wasn’t expecting to go into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I kinda resisted it at the start, but they put me in anyway. I’m really big on timing. I believe that timing is everything. I thought,...

Backlash spreads over Elon Musk’s endorsement of antisemitic post

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:15 GMT

By Dana Hull and Ian King | BloombergFallout from an Elon Musk post endorsing antisemitic views continues to spread, with Tesla Inc. investors criticizing the billionaire and more advertisers fleeing his social media platform X.The European Commission joined International Business Machines Corp. in announcing it will stop advertising on X, formerly known as Twitter, after Musk agreed with a post that said Jewish people hold a “dialectical hatred” of white people. Musk responded by saying: “You have said the actual truth.”“X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination,” X Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino said on the platform Thursday. “There’s no place for it anywhere in the world — it’s ugly and wrong. Full stop.”Musk didn’t respond to a request for comment.Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and the world’s richest person, has repeatedly been criticized for promoting content attacking Jewish people and his latest comm...

Woman shot while driving in Oakland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:15 GMT

OAKLAND — A 33-year-old woman was shot Thursday evening as she was driving in East Oakland, authorities said.The woman was able to drive herself to a hospital where she was in stable condition recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg, authorities said.The shooting happened about 5:50 p.m. Thursday in the 1600 block of 13th Avenue and was recorded on a gunshot detection alert system.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Two men get 16 years for 2019 fatal shooting during Oakland marijuana robbery Crime and Public Safety | East Bay kidnapping suspect captured after fleeing mental health diversion program Crime and Public Safety | Antioch man found shot to death Wednesday afternoon Crime and Public Safety | Ex-FCI Dublin correctional officer gets 8 years for sexually abusing inmates Crime and Public Safety | Oakland police seek tips on how body ended stuffed in suitcase Police said the woman was...

Car crashes into home Friday morning in San Mateo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:15 GMT

(BCN) -- A car crashed into a home in San Mateo on Friday morning, according to police.San Mateo police issued an alert at 7:44 a.m. about the crash in the area of Murphy and Ashwood drives.No injuries were reported in the crash, but police said people should expect delays while driving through the area.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

'Silicon Valley's Party Animal' convicted for defrauding investors over $18M

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:15 GMT

(BCN) -- A former San Francisco venture capitalist was convicted by a federal jury Thursday of various charges for defrauding investors over $18 million in investments, federal prosecutors said.Michael Brent Rothenberg, 39, was found guilty of wire fraud, money laundering, bank fraud, and making false statements to a bank, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California said in a statement. Poll shows Newsom’s weaknesses on key issues, strength vs. Trump in California Rothenberg, dubbed by some as "Silicon Valley's Party Animal," defrauded investors in two of the venture capital funds that he managed in 2015 and 2016, according to prosecutors. The jury found that he committed wire fraud in February 2016 linked to a $2 million investment made in a company he owned named Bend Reality LLC, and that he committed money laundering by transferring a large portion of those proceeds to various bank accounts. Rothenberg also made false statements to a bank pertaining to a...

Student Protests for Gaza Targeted by Pro-Israel Groups for Alleged Civil Rights Violations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:15 GMT

In front of Columbia University’s Low Memorial Library, seven infant-sized bundles of white cloth rested on the steps, splattered with red paint. Behind the swaddles, plywood boards read “10,600 lives slaughtered,” “4,412 children,” and “let Gaza live,” alongside images of Palestinian flags and olive trees.This was the scene where Columbia students gathered last Thursday for a “peaceful protest art installation” and demonstration organized by the campus chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine. Hundreds of students demanded that Columbia publicly call for a ceasefire in Gaza, divest its endowment from corporations complicit in Israeli apartheid, and end its academic programs in Tel Aviv.The next day, Gerald Rosberg, chair of the Special Committee on Campus Safety, announced Columbia had suspended its chapters of JVP and SJP through the end of the semester, citing an “unauthorized event” that “included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.” The announ...

Woman dies after dinghy carrying migrants capsizes off Greek Aegean Sea islet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:15 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — One woman died and 19 people were rescued after a dinghy carrying migrants to Greece capsized off an islet in the eastern Aegean Sea near the Turkish coast Friday, Greek authorities said.A coast guard statement said the woman was found unconscious in the water and was pronounced dead in hospital on the nearby island of Samos. The coast guard said no further people were reported as missing.Eighteen of the survivors were picked up off the islet of Agathonissi, and another was rescued by the Turkish coast guard in Turkish waters and handed over to a Greek patrol boat.Thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia attempt the short but dangerous sea crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands each year, in the hope of eventually making their way to more prosperous European Union countries.Others attempt to skirt around Greece and head directly to Italy instead, either from Turkey or from north Africa. The longer sea journey is conside...

Jamaican runner Christopher Taylor banned for avoiding a doping test and will miss Paris Olympics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:15 GMT

MONACO (AP) — Jamaican runner Christopher Taylor was banned for 2½ years Friday for avoiding a doping test and will miss next year’s Paris Olympics.The Athletics Integrity Unit said Taylor was banned for “evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection” in Kingston, Jamaica, in November 2022. His ban expires in May 2025, when he will be 25.At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Taylor placed sixth in both the individual 400 meters and the men’s 4×400 relay.He helped Jamaica take silver in the 4×400 at the 2022 worlds in Eugene, Oregon.Four months later, the AIU said, he was not available where he had said he could be found in Jamaica to give a doping control sample.Taylor later acknowledged the breach of anti-doping rules and got a reduced ban. He accepted a provisional suspension while the case proceeded, forcing him to miss the 2023 worlds in Budapest, Hungary.___AP sports: https://apnews.com/sportsSource

Md. immigrant rights group issues long-awaited apology for prior statements on Gaza conflict

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:15 GMT

Almost two weeks after coming under fire for issuing statements on the war in Gaza that some critics characterized as antisemitic, CASA, the Maryland-based immigrants’ rights organization, released a public apology Thursday, expressing regret for causing “dear friends and partners pain” and vowing to make amends.The new statement was released two days after the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the Baltimore philanthropy and CASA’s largest private donor, announced that it was pulling $150,000 in promised donations to the group and would not consider further funding requests until the organization made public attempts to demonstrate “a genuine understanding of the harm that it has caused, including substantive antisemitism training for the board and staff of the organization.”CASA’s original statement, issued on Nov. 6, came after the organization’s leaders attended an anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C., organized by group...