Category: Regional & State News

Buyers in California’s Orange County Bidding up Tight Housing Market

Limited supply is driving up housing prices in Orange County, with sales records indicating declining inventory and an uptick in price in June as compared to the same time last year. “It’s not insatiable demand,” Steven Thomas, founder of Reports on Housing—which publishes biweekly analyses of the real estate industry since its founding in 2004—told…


Man Who Ambushed Fargo Officers Likely Had Bigger and Bloodier Attack in Mind, Attorney General Says

FARGO, N.D.—The heavily armed man who ambushed Fargo police officers investigating a fender bender last week likely had a bigger and bloodier attack in mind, with at least two fairs taking place at the time in and around North Dakota’s largest city, authorities said Friday. Mohamad Barakat killed one officer and wounded two others and…


Woman Admits to Stealing Over $70,000 From Homeless Individuals in Government Checks

A former employee of a San Diego homeless center pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud July 20 for stealing over $70,000 in government checks meant for the homeless. Charisse Elaine Alexander, 55, worked at the San Diego Day Center for Homeless Adults—also known as the Neil Good Day Center—in April 2021, where she…


Cruising Is Legal Again in the California Town That Inspired ‘American Graffiti’

The city council of Modesto, California, on July 11 voted unanimously to repeal the 1990 ban on cruising, to the applause of local car aficionados. Many locals were happy because they believe the car culture promotes unity. They said cruising brings friends and family together. They also see it as an opportunity to bring money…


Lionel Messi Scores a Sensational Game-Winning Goal on a Free Kick in His Inter Miami Debut

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—Some people paid hundreds of dollars to be able to say they were in the stadium for Lionel Messi’s debut for Inter Miami. Some paid thousands for their seats. The team’s owners committed well over $100 million just to have a chance at moments like this. So far, it looks like money well…


California Faces Policy Desert as Insurance Companies Halt New Coverage: Expert

“Believe it or not, California has some of the lowest rates in the United States out of any state, because of … rate suppression,” said Chris Hebard, president of Hebard Insurance Solutions, a Northern California-based agency that offers home, auto, farm, and other net worth insurance for both personal and business use, on a recent…


“Alabama Does What Alabama Does” Black Lawmakers Decry SCOTUS Forced Redistricting Maps Passed by GOP

Lawmakers in Alabama argued over new maps as required to be redrawn by Friday to follow guidelines set forth in a Supreme Court ruling which upheld the same ruling by a federal district court’s three-judge panel in June. The legislature was required to redraw districts to conform to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act…


Prosecutors Want Rapper Back in Jail After He Crashed Car While Awaiting Trial

SAVANNAH, Ga.—Prosecutors want the rapper Quando Rondo sent back to jail after he crashed a car while free on bond pending trial on gang and drug charges. The 24-year-old rapper, whose given name Tyquian Terrel Bowman, was indicted last month in his hometown of Savannah. He was released from jail June 26 on a $100,000…


Mother and 3 Children Dead in Possible Oklahoma Murder-Suicide

VERDIGRIS, Okla.—A woman and her three children were found dead in an Oklahoma home Thursday evening in what may be a murder-suicide following an hourslong standoff, authorities said. The names of the victims weren’t immediately released. The standoff began in the small town of Verdigris, a suburb east of Tulsa, when a police officer driving…


Police Say DNA Technology Has Identified the Killer in the Unsolved Death of a Woman in 1981

CONCORD, N.H.—More than four decades after a young New Hampshire woman was killed, law enforcement officials have solved the crime through DNA analysis and the use of forensic genealogy technology, the state attorney general said Thursday. But solving the case doesn’t bring with it the satisfaction of seeing justice: The man responsible for killing 23-year-old…