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Gov. Newsom signs bill to help sustain outdoor dining

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

In an effort to keep the al fresco momentum going, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law this week that will allow much of the outdoor and patio dining launched during the pandemic to continue across the state.Assembly Bill 1217, which was authored by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) and is a predecessor of Gabriel’s AB 61, supersedes city and county ordinances that might restrict outdoor dining or impose additional fees. It will also allow for continued flexibility when it comes to outdoor dining approvals, including streamlining application processes and waiving some fees.In 2020, programs like LA Al Fresco and San Francisco’s Shared Spaces allowed restaurants to serve diners without having to wade through the typical byzantine processes required. Most notably, Laguna Beach’s pedestrian-only promenade on Forest Avenue, which was created in June 2020 to help local businesses affected by COVID-19 restrictions, has since turned into a nearly-permanent fixture.As life returned to ...

3 teens arrested in attack on California college security guard, with 1 accused of swinging ax

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

Police arrested three people for what they said was an unprovoked attack on a Fullerton College security guard early on Friday, Oct. 13, with one of the teens pulling out an ax and swinging it at several guards who arrived to help.The 53-year-old guard was patrolling the campus early Friday morning when he found the trio — two 18-year-olds and a 17-year-old — on a bench in the college’s central quad.The guard believed one of them was suffering a medical emergency, said Kai Stearns, a spokeswoman for the North Orange County Community College District.But when he approached to help, Fullerton police said in a statement, they “immediately began to attack him.”The group punched and kicked the guard, stomped on his head, and attempted to gouge his eye, police said. During the attack, the guard was able to radio for help.When more security guards arrived, one of the teenagers pulled the ax from his backpack, swinging it at the guards but not hitting them, police said.The guards subdued on...

DC Mayor Bowser taps former Biden appointee to lead office held by ex-aide Falcicchio

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

Nina Albert, the commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, is leaving the agency and federal service on Friday, Oct. 13. (Courtesy, Federal News Network) Nina Albert, the commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, is leaving the agency and federal service on Friday, Oct. 13. (Courtesy, Federal News Network) D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has selected a former appointee in President Joe Biden’s General Services Administration to lead the city’s planning and economic development office, filling a position left vacant by the departure of embattled former Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio.Acting Deputy Mayor Nina Albert, a former executive wit...

Parents of Michigan school shooter lose bid to leave jail to attend his sentencing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A judge turned down a request by two parents to leave jail and attend the sentencing of their son who killed four students at Michigan’s Oxford High School.Judge Cheryl Matthews filed the one-page order Friday, according to online case entries in Oakland County court.Ethan Crumbley, 17, could be sentenced to life in prison on Dec. 8. James and Jennifer Crumbley, who are charged with involuntary manslaughter, have had no contact with their son for nearly two years, though all three are being held at a suburban Detroit jail.“Understandably, this hearing is of paramount importance, and would be to any parent, no matter what their child has done,” defense lawyers Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman said in a court filing Thursday.Prosecutors were opposed to having the Crumbley parents in court, saying their presence would be a distraction, especially for victims who plan to speak at the sentencing, the Detroit Free Press reported.The Crumbleys instead could be a...

1 shot after gunfire erupts in Fort Lauderdale neighborhood overnight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

Police responded to a crime scene overnight after gunfire erupted in a Fort Lauderdale neighborhood.The incident happened around 2:45 a.m. on Saturday along the 1400 block and Northwest Third Court on Broward Boulevard.Several rounds went off in the neighborhood, leaving one person shot, according to officials. Investigators blocked off the street to gather evidence after finding someone suffering from at least one gunshot wound. 7News captured on video an officer detaining one person and putting them in the back of a police car. It remains unclear the identity of the suspect, 7News is waiting to hear back from police for more details. Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

ONE LAST HURRAH FOR RAINY SEASON

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

Happy Saturday, South Florida!Hopefully everyone had a great week despite the muggy conditions we experienced each day. Not much has changed across South Florida through the last couple of days except that temperatures have gotten warmer with each passing afternoon. Areas of South Florida experienced record heat for a few days in a row. This applies to Broward County, Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys where some either tied or set new record high temperatures. This morning we woke up to temperatures on the warm side once again in the 80s while mostly cloudy skies and soggy conditions for some. And worth mentioning, the Rainy Season officially ends tomorrow (October 15th) so it seems fitting that South Florida sees rain & thunderstorms in the final days. A weak front has remained stalled just to the north of our area, which has kept South Florida on the warm and muggy side for a couple of days now. In addition, an area of high pressure to the south of our area has kept our wind pa...

The Future of Pro-Israel Politics is at Stake in Gaza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

n November of 2022, the pollster Mark Mellman gathered a group of pro-Israel Democrats to pick over the results of the recent Israeli election. The voters had put Benjamin Netanyahu back into power in a coalition with extremist leaders, including one convicted of supporting a terror group and another who has railed against LGBTQ people and called for ethnic segregation in maternity wards.For moderate and liberal supporters of Israel, it was a bleak moment.Mellman, a veteran Democratic strategist who has worked extensively in Israeli politics, did not sugarcoat the results. The advocacy group he leads, Democratic Majority for Israel, had denounced the Israeli far right during the election as unfit to govern. Still, Mellman stressed to the collection of allies and donors that they should be wary of an open breach: American disagreements with Israeli leaders, he said, were better handled behind closed doors so that they could not be exploited by provocateurs in both countries.It was no...

Column: It’s fun to dream of Chicago Bears picking 1-2 in the NFL draft, but the path to becoming a real challenger requires success now

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

A badly needed victory over the Washington Commanders changed the tenor of things at Halas Hall and, for a week anyway, did nothing to alter the projected draft order for April.The Chicago Bears own the first-round pick belonging to the Carolina Panthers, the NFL’s only winless team, meaning right now they would have the No. 1 pick. As one of six 1-4 teams entering this weekend, the Bears would have the No. 2 pick in the draft based on those standings due to the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker. The tiebreaker can fluctuate significantly with so many games remaining.The idea of the Bears entering draft season with the top two picks has been bandied about for a few weeks, especially before the dominating 40-20 victory at FedEx Field when quarterback Justin Fields threw for 282 yards and four touchdowns. No team has gone 1-2 in the draft since the Indianapolis Colts held the top picks in 1992 and netted defensive tackle Steve Emtman and linebacker Quentin Coryatt. The mind races...

Field hockey notebook: Loaded Div. 3 is up for grabs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

Do you remember when late-game heroics took over half of the Div. 3 state quarterfinal games last year in field hockey? When a goal inside the final four minutes was the only offense both Newburyport and Dover-Sherborn used to punch their tickets to the Final Four? No?Gloucester and Foxboro do.How about in the next round, when offensive juggernaut Sandwich was blanked up until scoring the game-winner early in the fourth? The same state semifinal round an impressive defensive season came to an abrupt halt with a 6-0 loss to Watertown? Remember?Newburyport and Dover-Sherborn do.And Sandwich’s slim loss to Watertown in the Div. 3 state final for a … you get the point.Gloucester head coach Lauren Riley-Gove quipped in early September that there’s nothing like a little heartbreak to end the prior season. It’s a little extra fuel that a team like hers – with a large returning cast from an upset loss – can use as motivation.The only problem with how that translates to any sort of adv...

How a United Kingdom fan group provided hope for one Ravens fan and sparked many more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:09 GMT

William Shakespeare once wrote that “the miserable have no other medicine but only hope.” Three years ago, Darren Foster struggled to find any.It was the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rare genetic syndrome that Foster’s teenage daughter, Bethany, suffers from made her potentially susceptible to the worst case scenario of the virus. In 2020, there were more than 238,000 deaths from coronavirus in the United Kingdom and Ireland alone, and the stout former rugby player, father of two and dispensing optician from Warrington, England — halfway between Manchester and Liverpool — was often consumed by fear and loneliness. Then he found hope in an unusual place: the U.K. Ravens.Baltimore and London are separated by more 3,600 miles and an ocean, but the longtime fan group provided the solace and joy that Foster, a 40-year-old built like a fire hydrant and with a beard as thick as his northern English accent, desperately needed amid strict isolati...