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Searching for the missing on Maui, some wait in agony to make contact. And then the phone rings.

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:38:31 GMT

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — Leshia Wright heard the crackle of the fast-moving inferno closing in on her home in Lahaina and decided it was time to evacuate.The 66-year-old grabbed her medication for a pulmonary disease and her passport and fled the subdivision in the historic Hawaii oceanside community just minutes before flames engulfed the neighborhood. Hours later, she called family members and told them she slept in her car. Then her phone went dead.The next 40 hours were agony for her daughter in New York and sister in Arizona. But early Friday morning, Wright called back and told them she was OK.“I’m obviously relieved beyond words that my mother is alive,” said Alexandra Wright, who added that her mother finally was able to charge her phone after reaching a friend’s undamaged house on a quarter-tank of gas.The firestorm that killed dozens of people and leveled this historic town launched hundreds of people on a desperate search for their loved ones — many from thousands of ...

Barrels of drinking water for migrants walking through Texas have disappeared

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:38:31 GMT

HEBBRONVILLE, Texas (AP) — As one of the worst heat waves on record set in across much of the southern United States this summer, authorities and activists in South Texas found themselves embroiled in a mystery in this arid region near the border with Mexico.Barrels of life-saving water that a human rights group had strategically placed for wayward migrants traveling on foot had vanished.Usually, they are hard to miss. Labeled with the word “AGUA” painted in white, capital letters and standing about waist-high, the 55-gallon (208-liter), blue drums stand out against the scrub and grass, turned from green to a sundried brown. The stakes of solving this mystery are high.Summer temperatures can climb to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) in Texas’ sparsely populated Jim Hogg County, with its vast, inhospitable ranchlands. Migrants — and sometimes human smugglers — take a route through this county to try to circumvent a Border Patrol checkpoint on a busier highway about...

Developers have Black families fighting to maintain property and history

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:38:31 GMT

PHILLIPS COMMUNITY, S.C. (AP) — The Rev. Elijah Smalls Jr. once grew okra, butter beans and other vegetables in the neighborhood where his family has lived near the South Carolina coast since survivors of slavery bought patches of their plantation after the Civil War. Then came half-a-million-dollar homes in a nearby subdivision, overwhelming the drainage system. Runoff meant for sewers now pools in the 80-year-old veteran’s backyard, making gardening impossible.Smalls and his relatives in Phillips Community are the many Black families still living in historic settlement communities around Charleston. Like others all along the South Carolina coast, their land is being targeted by developers of vacation getaways and new homes. And as real estate prices rise from Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head, Black property owners have found themselves embroiled in disputes with investors and their own relatives.State reforms approved in 2017 provided what supporters described as “shark repellant” — a ...

Allies of Niger president overthrown by military are appealing to the US and others: Save his life

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:38:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — After nearly three weeks of appealing to the United States and other allies for help restoring Niger’s president to power, friends and supporters of the democratically elected leader are making a simpler plea: Save his life.President Mohamed Bazoum, leader of the last remaining Western-allied democracy across a vast stretch of Africa’s Sahara and Sahel, sits confined with his family in an unlit basement of his presidential compound, cut off from resupplies of food and from electricity and cooking gas by the junta that overthrew him, Niger’s ambassador to the United States told The Associated Press. “They are killing him,” said the ambassador, Mamadou Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, a close associate who maintains daily calls with the detained leader. The two have been colleagues for three decades, since the now 63-year-old president was a young philosophy instructor, a teacher’s union leader, and a democracy advocate noted for his eloquence.“The plan of the head of the...

Rising political threats take US into uncharted territory as 2024 election looms

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:38:31 GMT

DENVER (AP) — This week’s confrontation that ended with FBI agents fatally shooting a 74-year-old Utah man who threatened to assassinate President Joe Biden was just the latest example of how violent rhetoric has created a more perilous political environment across the U.S.Six days earlier, a 52-year-old Texas man was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for threatening to kill Arizona election workers. Four days before that, prosecutors charged a 56-year-old Michigan woman for lying to buy guns for her mentally ill adult son, who threatened to use them against Biden and that state’s Democratic governor.Threats against public officials have been steadily climbing in recent years, creating new challenges for law enforcement, civil rights and the health of American democracy.The Capitol Police last year reported that they investigated more than double the number of threats against members of Congress as they did four years earlier. Driven by former President Donald Trump̵...

Broncos Stock Report: Who’s up, who’s down after loss to Arizona in preseason opener

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:38:31 GMT

The initial stock report of the preseason after the Broncos’ 18-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Friday night.Stock UpOLB Nik BonittoBonitto was arguably the Broncos’ best defensive player Friday night, with the second-year outside linebacker notching three tackles, a split sack and a quarterback hit while using his speed to get in the backfield. Bonitto’s best play of the night happened in the second quarter when he charged toward Cardinals quarterback Clayton Tune before changing direction to stop running back Corey Clement on third down. Bonitto left the game after the play due to a hip injury, according to the game broadcast. Outside linebacker was one of the biggest question marks heading into training camp. However, Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper have shown that Denver’s edge rushing depth might be better than expected.RB Jaleel McLaughlinMcLaughlin delivered when it mattered most — by preseason standards, anyway. The undrafted rookie running back played a big role durin...

Rockies squander chance, strike out 16 times in loss to Dodgers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:38:31 GMT

You wouldn’t know it by the 6-1 final score, but the Rockies actually had a sliver of a chance to capture a rare victory at Dodger Stadium Friday night.In the fourth inning, the Rockies tied the game, 1-1, combining a leadoff single by Ezequiel Tovar, a walk by Ryan McMahon, an infield hit by Brendan Rodgers, and a throwing error by Los Angeles third baseman Enrique Hernandez.With runners on second and third and nobody out, Colorado needed one clutch hit to take charge. But Dodgers right-hander Lance Lynn struck out Elias Diaz and Nolan Jones and then got Michael Toglia to fly out to left. Opportunity wasted.From that point on, the Rockies’ hitters went quietly into the SoCal night, getting just three hits over the final five innings. By the time “I Love L.A.” blared out of the speakers, the Rockies struck out 16 times, the 10th time this season they have fanned at least 15 times.Since 2019, the Rockies are now 9-28 at Dodger Stadium.“It was a little bi...

2 dead in Lancaster shooting, multiple injured

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:38:31 GMT

At least two people were killed and multiple were others injured after shots rang out at a Lancaster home on Friday night. Deputies responded to reports of a shooting on the 3300 block of Knott Court around 7:25 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Arriving officers found several gunshot victims at the scene. The total number of victims has not yet been confirmed. At least two people were seen dead lying on the street.Sky5 video showed a large presence of law enforcement and ambulance vehicles on the quiet neighborhood street.Details remain limited as authorities investigate the incident. The motive behind the deadly shooting is unknown. No suspect descriptions were provided.The area remains on lockdown as deputies appear to be knocking on neighbors’ doors in search of possible suspects.This developing story will be updated.

Ventura County authorities use fake social media account to track suspect

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:38:31 GMT

A man was arrested on Tuesday after he was found using social media to advertise the sale of illegal narcotics. Ventura County detectives discovered that Demitri Ruybalid used various social media accounts to advertise sales of counterfeit oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl, according to a Ventura County Sheriff’s Office news release. Detectives also found that Ruybalid had an outstanding Ventura County warrant for his arrest on an unrelated case.Authorities used an undercover social media account to contact Ruybalid and pretend to purchase the fentanyl-based pills. Ruybalid agreed to meet with the undercover detective to deliver the drugs in the area of 1000 S. Westlake Boulevard, where he was identified and arrested. While searching Ruybalid’s vehicle, detectives recovered 150 counterfeit oxycodone pills, seven grams of cocaine, two grams of powdered fentanyl, and 25 Xanax pills that were packaged to be sold. Ruybalid was booked into the Ventura County Pretrial...

'This is like Gotcham City': Burglar hits popular San Francisco burger restaurant

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:38:31 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A San Francisco burger spot is out thousands of dollars after an early morning burglary. Security video captured the crime happening in the city’s Richmond district.Security video from Uncle Boy’s captures what owner John Espejo says was a costly crime. The burglar took $2,000 in cash from the register and left another $1,500 dollars in damage. “I’m not gonna sugarcoat it,” he said. “It’s tough out there. There’s a lot of things going on that make you think, ‘Man, this is like Gotham City out there.’” American Canyon burglary suspect arrested after stealing luggage out of a car: police Espejo says the crime was peculiar and done by what appears to be a professional. Instead of smashing the glass to get in, the burglar removed it.“I don’t know how to explain it. I’m not in that profession, but the glass is perfectly preserved. It wasn’t broken or nothing. There was no shattering, nothing,” Espejo said.Running Uncle Boy’s has been Espejo’s American dream....