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Seymour Stein dies at 80; music exec launched careers of Madonna, Talking Heads, the Ramones and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:50 GMT

Associated PressNEW YORK — Seymour Stein, the brash, prescient and highly successful founder of Sire Records who helped launched the careers of Madonna, Talking Heads and many others, died April 2 at age 80.Stein, who helped found the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and was himself inducted into the Rock Hall in 2005, died of cancer in Los Angeles, according to a statement by his family.Born in 1942, Stein was a New York City native who as a teenager worked summers at Cincinnati-based King Records, James Brown’s label, and by his mid-20s had co-founded Sire Productions, soon to become Sire Records.Obsessed with the Billboard music charts since childhood, he was known for his deep knowledge and appreciation of music and would prove an astute judge of talent during the 1970s era of New Wave, a term he helped popularize, signing record deals with Talking Heads, the Ramones and the Pretenders.“Seymour’s taste in music is always a couple of years ahead of everyone...

California woman who was cited for honking loses her First Amendment case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:50 GMT

Honking a car horn is not protected as free speech, the federal appeals court in San Francisco has ruled.The decision, filed Friday, was in the case of Susan Porter, an Oceanside woman who was cited for “unreasonable use of a vehicle horn” after she honked an estimated 14 times as she drove past a protest outside the office of Rep. Darrell Issa in 2017.Though the citation was dismissed because the sheriff’s deputy who issued it did not show up in traffic court, Porter filed a civil suit in 2018 alleging that her subsequent fear of again being cited resulted in her “censoring herself by refraining from using her vehicle horn for expressive purposes, including but not limited to expressing support for political protests, rallies, or demonstrations.”She sought to have declared unlawful the enforcement of Vehicle Code section 27001 against what she calls “expressive honking,” which she argued falls under First Amendment protections.Section 27001...

Oakland authorities begin clearing out last vestige of Wood Street homeless camp

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:50 GMT

Tamara Rosselli strapped her belongings to an orange dolly as public works crews a few hundred yards away began clearing out the last vestiges of one of the Bay Area’s largest homeless encampments on Wood Street in West Oakland.As she secured a sleeping bag to the top of the bundle, Rosselli was approached by outreach workers who promised her a spot at a new city-run tiny-home cabin shelter. After a few months living at the camp on a vacant city lot near the I-880 freeway, she was ready for the chance to put her life back together and hopefully find a housing voucher for an apartment.“Look at this place,” she said, motioning to the bicycle parts, propane tanks and broken appliances strewn across the property. “This is not paradise. We can get a fresh start down there.”But not everyone was ready to leave. As authorities began the weeks-long process of cleaning up the encampment on Monday, a few dozen camp residents and homelessness activists called on th...

Berkeley campus police looking for help in identifying sexual battery suspect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:50 GMT

(KRON) -- The UC Berkeley Police Department is asking for the public's assistance in identifying the suspect or suspects in two recent sexual battery incidents that took place on campus. The first took place on Wednesday, April 5 in the Eucalyptus Grove around 1:30 p.m., police said in an alert notification. 5-year-old girl killed in shooting on I-880 in Fremont: CHP The second occurred on Sunday, April 9 at around 9:40 a.m. In both incidents, the suspect grabbed a female student's private body parts over their clothing, police said. Campus police are investigating the cases, including the possibility that they may be related.Photos of the suspect(s) are below:UCPD has released photos of the suspect or suspects. Anyone with any information related to the incidents is asked to contact UCPD at (510) 642-6760.

Man gets life sentence for killing of Georgia whistleblower

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:50 GMT

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A Mexican citizen was sentenced Monday to life in a U.S. prison for killing a man who reported him and his brother to authorities for cheating migrant workers out of millions of dollars. A U.S. District Court judge in Brunswick, Georgia, sentenced 46-year-old Juan Rangel-Rubio nearly six months after a jury convicted him of conspiring to kill a witness and other criminal counts. According to federal prosecutors, Rangel-Rubio and his brother recruited migrant workers living illegally in the U.S. to work for a tree-trimming business in southeast Georgia, then routed more than $3.5 million of the workers’ earnings to their own accounts. Employee Eliud Montoya filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and was fatally shot in August 2017 outside his home near Savannah. Prosecutors said Rangel-Rubio pulled the trigger after plotting the killing with his brother, Pablo Rangel-Rubio, and a getaway driver, Higinio Perez-Bravo.Both co-def...

Mother of 6-year-old who shot teacher indicted by grand jury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:50 GMT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — A grand jury in Virginia has indicted the mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher on charges of child neglect and failing to secure her handgun in the family’s home, a prosecutor said Monday.A grand jury sitting in Newport News charged the boy’s 25-year-old mother with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor charge of endangering a child by reckless storage of a firearm, Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn said in a news release.The Associated Press isn’t naming the mother to shield the identity of her son.The boy shot first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner on Jan. 6 inside her classroom at Richneck Elementary School. Police said the boy’s mother legally purchased the gun. Her attorney, James Ellenson, has said the gun was secured on a top shelf in her closet and had a trigger lock.Ellenson said Monday that his client plans to turn herself in later this week. He did not comment on the indictments, which were first reported by the Daily Pr...

Los disturbios del 8 de enero en Brasilia fueron un “intento de golpe”, dice Lula da Silva

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:50 GMT

(CNN) — El presidente de Brasil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, dijo que los disturbios en edificios gubernamentales el pasado 8 de enero representaron un “intento de golpe” por parte de grupos de extrema derecha.“No fue un acto cualquiera, eso fue un intento de golpe de Estado, hecho con la mayor insolencia por un grupo de reaccionarios, por un grupo de fascistas, por un grupo de derecha que no quería dejar el poder, que no quería aceptar el resultado electoral”, aseveró Lula en su discurso durante una reunión ministerial con motivo de los primeros 100 días de su presidencia.Lula da Silva dice que algunas fuerzas de seguridad conspiraron con los manifestantes del 8 de enero en BrasiliaLas autoridades de Brasil investigan los hechos del 8 de enero después de que cientos de simpatizantes del expresidente Jair Bolsonaro irrumpieran en edificios gubernamentales en la capital, Brasilia, para protestar por los resultados electorales.Lula también acusó a Bolsonaro de gastar ...

Tupperware, Tesla fall; Walgreens, Honda rise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Monday:Apple Inc., down $2.63 to $162.03. Global PC shipments slid in the first quarter, with Apple taking the biggest hit, according to International Data Corp.Tesla, Inc., down 55 cents to $184.51.The electric vehicle maker cut prices on its entire U.S. model lineup for the third time this year.Tupperware Brands Corp., down $1.18 to $1.24.The reusable package maker said it’s engaged financial advisors to address concerns about its financial viability.Greenbrier Companies, Inc., up $3.06 to $33.27. The Oregon-based maker of freight railcars beat Wall Street’s second-quarter earnings projections.Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., up 32 cents to $36.10.California’s Medicaid program will continue to pay the drugstore chain despite the governor’s vow not to do business with it.Honda Motor Co., Ltd., up 23 cents to $26.36. The automaker is recalling nearly 564,000 older SUVs in the U.S. because of...

How major US stock indexes fared Monday 4/10/2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:50 GMT

Stocks were mixed on Wall Street Monday in their first trading after a report heightened speculation the Federal Reserve may tap the brakes again on financial markets and the economy. The S&P 500 gained 0.1%. Big tech stocks were worst off as bets built for the Fed to raise interest rates at its next meeting. That forced the Nasdaq down slightly, but hope still remains that the economy may skirt a recession. That helped the Dow rise modestly. Stocks were catching up to the bond market, where yields rose Friday with expectations for a rate hikeOn Monday:The S&P 500 rose 4.09 points, or 0.1%, to 4,109.11.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 101.23 points, or 0.3%, to 33,586.52.The Nasdaq composite fell 3.60 points, or less than 0.1% to 12,084.36.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 17.98 points, or 1%, to 1,772.44.For the year:The S&P 500 is up 269.61 points, or 7%.The Dow is up 439.27 points, or 1.3%.The Nasdaq is up 1,617.87 points, or 15.5%.The Russell 2000...

Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney move closer to Wrexham dream

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:50 GMT

WREXHAM, Wales (AP) — Ryan Reynolds punched the air before turning to embrace Rob McElhenney as the Hollywood stars moved a big step closer to their dream of leading Welsh soccer team Wrexham to promotion. The pair celebrated at the end of a game that had all the thrills of a big screen blockbuster and the ultimate twist as former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster pulled off a penalty save in the seventh minute of stoppage time to secure a 3-2 win against closest rival Notts County on Monday.“I don’t think I have a heart anymore,” Reynolds said afterward. “I think I used all the beats I had left during that match. That was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”Wrexham, which has been given A-list sparkle after being bought by the two actors, moved three points clear at the top of the fifth-tier National League with a game in hand. Elliot Lee’s 78th-minute strike was the decisive goal after both teams had led during the match. But it was Foster’s save to deny Cedwy...