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Jorge Lerma on path to filling critical Oakland school board seat, but more results to come

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:51 GMT

OAKLAND — Former school principal Jorge Lerma has a substantial lead in the race for a vacant Oakland Unified school board seat, but later returns on Thursday indicated that opponent Sasha Ritzie-Hernandez is cutting into it.Lerma now has roughly a 57% to 43% advantage over Ritzie-Hernandez, narrowed down from the 63% to 37% advantage he held in initial Tuesday night results.Close to 1,300 additional eligible ballots were counted in the latest returns, bringing the total turnout to about 3,500 in Oakland’s District 5, a largely Latino area south of I-580 that includes parts of East Oakland, including Fremont High and the Fruitvale neighborhood.It’s unclear how many votes are left to count, given that any ballots that arrive in the coming days must be tabulated, as long as they were postmarked on or before the day of the special election on Nov. 6.The District 5 seat is the only one vacant on the Oakland Unified School District board, which frequently finds itself s...

After 25 years in prison, man has his conviction overturned

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:51 GMT

By Christopher Weber | Associated PressLOS ANGELES — A California man who has spent 25 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit was exonerated and ordered released by a judge on Thursday after prosecutors agreed he had been wrongly convicted.Miguel Solorio, 44, was arrested in 1998 for a fatal drive-by shooting in Whittier, southeast of Los Angeles, and eventually sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.Superior Court Judge William Ryan overturned Solorio’s conviction during a Los Angeles court hearing that Solorio attended remotely.When the hearing concluded, Solorio thanked his attorneys with the Northern California Innocence Project, calling them his “dream team.”“It’s like a dream I don’t want to wake up from,” he said. “This day finally came.”The attorneys who petitioned for Solorio’s release argued that his conviction was based on faulty eyewitness identification practices.In a letter last month...

Miss. polling places ran out of ballots on election day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:51 GMT

By Emily Wagster Pettus, Michael Goldberg and Ayanna Alexander | Associated PressJACKSON, Miss. — People in Mississippi’s largest county are demanding answers about why some polling places ran out of ballots and voters had to wait for them to be replenished on the day the state was deciding its most competitive governor’s race in a generation.It’s unclear how many people left without voting, and activists and local leaders say election officials’ failure is shocking, especially in a state where civil rights leaders were beaten or killed in the 1960s and earlier to secure voting rights for Black residents.“If you can’t vote, that’s a problem for democracy,” said Paloma Wu, a Mississippi Center for Justice attorney who filed one of two lawsuits to keep polling places open later than usual in Hinds County.Republican Gov. Tate Reeves defeated Democratic challenger Brandon Presley in Mississippi’s most expensive gubernatorial race.Nea...

Alabama can’t prosecute people who help women leave the state for abortions, Justice Department says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:51 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday said Alabama cannot use conspiracy laws to prosecute people and groups who help women leave the state to obtain abortions.The Justice Department filed a statement of its position in consolidated lawsuits against Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, arguing that such prosecutions would be unconstitutional. The lawsuits, filed by an abortion fund and former providers, seek a court ruling clarifying the state can’t use conspiracy statutes to prosecute people who help Alabama women travel elsewhere to obtain an abortion. Marshall has not prosecuted anyone for providing such assistance, but he has made statements saying that his office would “look at” groups that provide abortion help.The Justice Department argued in the filing that the U.S. Constitution protects the right to travel. The department said that just as Marshall cannot stop women from crossing state lines to obtain a legal abortion, “neither can he ...

Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley says title game refs should ‘not be run over’ after critical NCAA review

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:51 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said she does not want a critical NCAA review of officiating in the women’s national championship game last April to keep those officials from other prominent assignments, suggesting the Black women had been “thrown under the bus.”The review found that the officiating during LSU’s 102-85 victory over Iowa was below expectations. Staley, whose team’s 36-0 run was ended in the Final Four by tournament runner-up Iowa, said on social media she hoped the game officials would not be kept from similar games in the future. “So the independent review was done under anonymity but it is known who the officials were …. all black and brown skinned women,” she posted on X, formerly called Twitter. “Now that they’re thrown under the bus let’s not run them over.”When asked to discuss her post, Staley said in a text to The Associated Press her “tweet is all I’m going to say.” The sixth-ranked Gamecocks (1-0) face No. 12 M...

Dobbs’ Vikings debut was a winner. What can the ‘passtronaut’ do for an encore vs. the Saints?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:51 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joshua Dobbs has bounced around the NFL like the quintessential backup quarterback, lending an attractive combination of athleticism, experience and intelligence to seven teams in seven years even if none of them have committed to him as a long-term starter.Perhaps his career is about to really take off. His nickname is the “passtronaut,” after all.Just five days after Minnesota acquired him from Arizona in an emergency trade following the season-ending injury for Kirk Cousins, Dobbs rescued the Vikings in Atlanta for their fourth consecutive victory. “I want to say surprising, but then again it’s not really surprising once you get to know him,” Vikings running back Alexander Mattison said. “The time he puts in to be prepared, it definitely makes sense.”Dobbs had quite the week, beating his hometown team with a made-for-TV rally in his Vikings debut and drawing praise that transcended the football world into, well, outer space. An aerospace engineering major at Te...

Live updates | Israel will allow a daily pause in Gaza combat, as US seeks a multiday break

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:51 GMT

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration says Israel will allow a four-hour humanitarian pause each day in combat operations in northern Gaza to allow civilians to flee to the south, starting on Thursday.Biden also told reporters he had asked the Israelis for a “pause longer than three days” during negotiations over the release of some hostages held by Hamas, although he ruled out the chances of a general cease-fire.In Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron has opened a Gaza aid conference with an appeal for Israel to protect civilians, saying that “all lives have equal worth” and that fighting terrorism “can never be carried out without rules.” The war, now in its second month, was triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel.The number of Palestinians killed in the war has risen to over 10,800, including more than 4,400 children, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said. In the occupied West Bank, more than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the violence an...

Media workers stage sit-in at New York Times headquarters to call for cease-fire in Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied the lobby of The New York Times on Thursday, accusing the media of betraying a bias toward Israel in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the publication’s Manhattan headquarters. Many entered the building’s atrium for a sit-in and vigil that lasted more than an hour.Led by a group of media workers calling themselves “Writers Bloc,” demonstrators read off the names of thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza, including at least 36 journalists whose deaths have been confirmed since the war began.They scattered editions of a mock newspaper — “The New York War Crimes” — that charged the media with “complicity in laundering genocide” and called on the Times’ editorial board to publicly back a cease-fire.The sit-in followed a series of actions at high-profile locations in New York intended to bring attention to the growing death toll in Gaza.On Tues...

Johnson makes go-ahead layup with 0.8 seconds left and UC Davis take down Pepperdine 79-78

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:51 GMT

DAVIS, Calif. (AP) — Ty Johnson made a go-ahead layup with 0.8 seconds left and UC Davis beat Pepperdine 79-78 on Thursday night.After Pepperdine’s Malik Moore made 1 of 2 free throws with 5.1 seconds left for a 78-77 lead, Johnson went coast-to-coast and banked in a layup. It was UC Davis’ first lead since 7-6. Pepperdine led by as many as 19 points in the second half. Johnson finished with 28 points for the Aggies (2-0). Elijah Pepper added 24 points, going 8 of 14 from the field and 6 of 7 from the free throw line. Niko Rocak had nine points and was 3 of 3 shooting and 2 of 4 from the free throw line.Michael Ajayi led the Waves (1-1) in scoring, finishing with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Houston Mallette added 15 points for Pepperdine. In addition, Moore had 15 points.NEXT UPBoth teams next play Sunday. UC Davis visits Montana and Pepperdine plays Lafayette at home.___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportra...

Man charged after he fired 2 shots trying to prevent purse snatching on NYC subway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who pulled out a pistol and fired it on a New York City subway platform in an apparent attempt to stop someone from stealing a woman’s purse was charged Thursday with criminal possession of a weapon and menacing.No one was struck by the gunshots Tuesday inside the station, located a few blocks north of Times Square.Authorities said John Rote, 43, intervened when a man who had been asking riders for money near the turnstiles at around 9 p.m. tried to grab a 40-year-old woman’s purse.According to prosecutors, he pulled a gun from his bag and fired at least one shot on the platform, before fleeing the scene and disposing of his firearm.Security camera footage published in the New York Post showed part of the confrontation.“I’ve looked at the video,” New York City Transit President Richard Davey said at a news conference Wednesday. “It’s, I would say unusual. He sort of looks very calm, pulls out a gun, fires two shots, calmly puts the gun back in the bag and...