Category: Regional & State News

2 Die When Their Dirt Bike Collides With SUV; Neither Was Wearing a Helmet

WAREHAM, Mass.—Two people died over the weekend when the dirt bike they were riding collided with an SUV near a shopping plaza in Massachusetts, authorities said. The victims of the crash in Wareham just before 11 p.m. Saturday were identified as Robert Stocker, 17, of Woburn, and Brady Petrucci, 20, of Raynham, according to a…


$5 Million Bail for Alleged Getaway Driver in Shooting Outside Cleveland Bar

CLEVELAND—A second man charged in a recent downtown Cleveland mass shooting that left nine people wounded was ordered held on $5 million bail during a court hearing Monday where prosecutors said a third man was with the two suspects when the attack occurred. Kevin Del Valle-Salaman, 24, of Lorain, did not speak during his initial…


2-Vehicle Wreck Kills 5 in Fiery Crash on Northeast Georgia Highway

ALTO, Ga.—Five people are dead after a wreck on a busy northeast Georgia highway. State troopers say Avonlea Holtzclaw of Dahlonega was trying to cross U.S. 23 in a Ford Explorer Sunday afternoon when a driver going northbound hit her. The wreck happened near Alto in Habersham County. Ms. Holtzclaw, 29, died in the wreck…


Boy Thrown From Carnival Ride at Illinois Community Festival

ANTIOCH, Ill.—Carnival rides were shut down at an Illinois community festival after a 10-year-old boy was thrown from his seat and seriously injured, authorities said. The boy was riding Moby Dick, which locks people in at the shoulders and then goes up and down as speed increases. The boy was thrown Sunday as the ride…


Judge Temporarily Blocks Iowa’s 6-Week Abortion Ban

An Iowa judge issued a temporary injunction on Monday, blocking the state’s new ban on abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually at six weeks of pregnancy. This decision came shortly after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the measure into law, following approval by the Republican-led Legislature during an all-day special session last week. In…


Laguna Beach Man Pleads Guilty to Flying Drones Near Aircrafts, Prompting Dangerous Emergency Responses

Laguna Beach resident Alexander Milinovic pleaded guilty July 13 to three criminal charges for recklessly operating a drone near various aircraft multiple times—including close to a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter mid-flight. The 62-year-old pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft between June 2022 and March 2023, according to a…


Santa Monica Councilman Attacked by Homeless Man

A Santa Monica city councilman was attacked July 16 around 2:45 p.m. while walking along the Third Street Promenade, an outdoor dining and shopping street, with his wife after asking a man he believed to be homeless to pick up his trash. “I asked him if he could pick up the trash and put it…


One of San Diego’s Oldest Starbucks Locations Closes Due to Homelessness

A San Diego Starbucks—which has been in business for nearly 30 years—closed June 29 due to the company’s inability to protect employees and customers from issues regarding homelessness, according to two local officials. Located in the community of Hillcrest on the 3000 Block of Fifth Avenue, the Starbucks branch was one of the oldest in…


California Lawmakers Consider Race-Based Sentencing Bill as Part of Reparation Efforts

A controversial bill designed to allow California judges to consider race when sentencing offenders is winding its way through the legislative process, having passed the Assembly with no Republican support and some Democrats abstaining from the vote. Assembly Bill 852, a succinct proposal comprised of two sentences and authored by Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles),…


Westminster Police Join Forces With Nonprofit to Create Mental Health Mobile Response Team

The Westminster Police Department has partnered with a local nonprofit to establish a mobile response team to provide mental health services to the community through a program that launched June 26. Be Well OC is the nonprofit which has taken over non-life-threatening mental health calls on behalf of the city’s police department. So far, the…