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St. Louis County Council approves smoking restrictions at parks, casinos

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - The St. Louis County Council passed a bill Tuesday that bans smoking at county parks and limits it at county casinos. The County Council passed Bill 53, introduced earlier this year by Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, in a 5-0 vote on Tuesday. Two council members were absent from this vote. The bill now heads to County Executive Sam Page for review. What does Anheuser-Busch brand sale mean for St. Louis? The bill authorizes "prohibition of smoking in enclosed places of employment and other public places." That includes libraries, health care facilities, and shopping malls. The bill also states that smoking is banned in "indoor and outdoor recreation facilities," which based on its description also includes county parks. One provision of the bill is that casinos within the county, such as ones in Maryland Heights and Lemay, must restrict smoking to at least half of any casino floor. Gambling website PlayUSA.com states that part of the bill was amended after some...

14-year-old boy steals car, leads deputies on high-speed pursuit in Victorville, SBSD says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

A 14-year-old boy stole a car and led San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department deputies on a high-speed pursuit early Tuesday morning, authorities said. The unidentified boy took a white Kia Optima from the 14300 block of La Paz Drive in Victorville just after 3:30 a.m., the SBSD said in a news alert.After the car's owner, a 30-year-old woman, reported her vehicle missing, deputies found it at La Paz Drive and Midway Street, where they tried a "high-risk traffic stop," officials said.The teen refused to stop, failing to stop for several traffic lights while he "drove at excessive speeds with a disregard for safety" for more than six miles, the release said. Eventually, the Optima stopped on the side of Amethyst Road, and the boy took off on foot, police said without detailing why the car pursuit ended.The teen, who is on probation, was then taken into custody and booked into the High Desert Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center.He faces charges of felony unlawful taking of a ve...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein hospitalized after fall

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was hospitalized Tuesday after tripping and falling at her San Francisco home, a spokesperson confirms.“Sen. Feinstein briefly went to the hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after a minor fall in her home. All of her scans were clear and she returned home,” a spokesperson told The Hill.  Feinstein, 90, recently had what appeared to be a moment of confusion during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on July 27. She began delivering a speech instead of voting and was eventually told to just “say aye" by committee Chairwoman Patty Murray.Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speaks during a confirmation hearing Wednesday, July 12, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)The San Francisco hospital visit comes after Feinstein missed months of work in Washington earlier this year when she was hospitalized for the shingles virus and its side effects. Since her return to work in May, she has traveled the Capitol h...

L.A. County considers $25 minimum wage for hotel, theme park workers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Amusement park and hotel workers in Los Angeles County may be getting raises in the coming years as the Board of Supervisors will vote on a large increase to their minimum wage.On Tuesday, Supervisor Janice Hahn, 4th District, proposed increasing base pay for workers in unincorporated L.A. County to at least $25 an hour, with that wage increasing to $30 an hour by 2028.Currently, these workers are paid $16.90 per hour."Too many people in our communities are working full-time jobs but they cannot pay their rent. This board has the ability to do something about it, at least for the workers in the unincorporated areas of L.A. County, and I think we should," Hahn said.Hahn added that the minimum wage increase would apply to workers at hotels with more than 60 rooms. The Los Angeles Times identified the affected theme parks as Universal Studios Hollywood and Six Flags Magic Mountain.Similar proposals are being considered in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Hahn added. The L.A. proposal would ...

Why are lottery jackpots so much bigger these days?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Every few months, another national lottery jackpot approaches record (or near-record) territory. A single ticket sold in Florida won Tuesday's $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot, which was the third-largest in U.S. history.Both nationwide games, Powerball and Mega Millions, have seen their jackpots land in the Top 10 list five times in the past two years. Billion-dollar payouts used to be extremely rare. Not anymore.So what has changed? In 2015, Powerball increased the number of white balls from 59 to 69 and shrunk the number of red balls from 35 to 26. This improved your odds of winning something, but lowered your odds of winning the jackpot from 1-in-175-million to 1-in-292-million, according to NerdWallet.In 2017, Mega Millions raised its ticket price from $1 to $2 which naturally increased the jackpots. It also added ten numbers to the Mega Ball (now numbered 1-25) while subtracting just five white balls (now numbered 1-70) which, much like Powerball, increased your odds of win...

Strawberry Fuzz Documents Dirty Side of LA

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Strawberry Fuzz Documents Dirty Side of LA: L.A. indie punks Strawberry Fuzz surprise-released a new album, Strongs Dr., back in January of this year. The album is, they say, “a continuation of their previous releases’ documentation of the dirty underside of L.A. life, exhibiting a strong, infectious breed of fuzzy Cali surf-punk with an unapologetic bite.” The Mainliners and Frankie + the Studs also perform on this awesome Echoplex bill.As vocalist Colby Rodgers wrote about their new release, “The album is a blend of all the people I grew up with in LA. Stoners, pill heads, downers, uppers, straight kids — it’s pretty much all in there. We named the album Strongs Dr. after the street our buddy Chris lives on in Venice. We spent a lot of long nights at his place during the making of the album. He also co-wrote and sings on the last voice memo recorded track with me. Shoutout Chris and the entire westside crew.”Drummer Andy Warren continues, “Some of the best ...

Alfredo Gonzalez-Gutierrez Arrested, 1 Injured after DUI Collision on Fifth Street [Santa Rosa, CA]

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

DUI Driver Arrested after Two-Vehicle Crash near Wilson StreetSANTA ROSA, CA (August 9, 2023) – Early Sunday morning,  Alfredo Gonzalez-Gutierrez was arrested, and another sustained injuries in a DUI collision on Fifth Street.The incident occurred around 2:30 a.m., near Wilson Street on July 30th.According to the California Highway Patrol, they were driving down Railroad Street, just south of Third Street, when they were signaled down by a driver who had recently been in an accident.The driver suffered serious injuries and the other car escaped the location.First responders arrived at the site of the crash shortly after. They rushed the injured individual to a nearby hospital for treatment of significant injuries.Afterward, police arrested Alfredo Gonzalez-Gutierrez and charged him with felony DUI resulting in injuries to another person.Moreover, both directions of the roadway were temporarily shut down to allow for cleanup and preliminary duties but have since been reopened.T...

Han Cho Killed in Motorcycle Crash on Euclid Street [Anaheim, CA]

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Off-Duty Garden Grove Police Officer Dead after Traffic Collision near Glenoaks AvenueANAHEIM, CA (August 9, 2023) – Monday afternoon, a motorcycle-auto collision on Euclid Street claimed the life of Han Cho.The crash happened shortly after 3:00 p.m. at the intersection of Euclid Street and Glenoaks Avenue.According to the Anaheim Police Department, the off-duty officer was on his way home when the collision with another vehicle occurred. However, the circumstances that led up to the crash remain under investigation.Responding emergency personnel transported the officer to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Meanwhile, the other driver was rushed to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries.Unfortunately, Han Cho, a 28-year veteran of the Garden Grove Police Department, succumbed to his injuries shortly after. Alcohol is not suspected to be a factor in the crash.The relatives of Officer Cho started a GoFundMe page to help the family with medical and funeral expenses. T...

Charles Piezzi Arrested after DUI Crash on Lakeville Highway [Petaluma, CA]

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Five-Vehicle Collision near South McDowell Boulevard Left Woman, Child InjuredPETALUMA, CA (August 9, 2023) – Sunday evening, police arrested Charles Piezzi following a DUI injury collision on Lakeville Highway.Authorities responded to reports of a hit-and-run around 5:50 p.m. at Lakeville Highway at South McDowell Boulevard.According to the police, an SUV rear-ended another vehicle, causing a chain-reaction collision with four other cars. Responding emergency personnel transported a woman to Petaluma Valley Hospital for unspecified injuries. In addition, paramedics treated a 12-year-old child at the scene for minor injuries.After the crash, the SUV driver went over a curb and stopped at a nearby parking lot. 58-year-old Charles Piezzi of Petaluma then fled into a nearby neighborhood and into the backyard of a home at 1500 Rio Nido Way.Apparently, Piezzi disregarded the officers’ commands to surrender and broke into a residence in the area before getting detained by the police...

Retrain your thumb: The iPhone ‘end call’ button is moving

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT

Apple is making a small change to the iPhone’s software that will likely mess with your muscle memory: The big red “end call” button is moving.The end-call icon, currently all by itself at the bottom of the screen, will slide to the right, and the other icons will move down. The iPhone’s phone app will get a series of updates coming to iOS 17, including a revised design that repositions the hang-up button.The icon – a big red dot with an image of a phone handset – currently sits by itself at the bottom of the screen, separated from two rows of other call-function buttons. With the change, it will be at the bottom right of the screen, clumped with five other buttons: mute, keypad, speaker, add call,  FaceTime.The new call screen, which is already available for download in a beta version for developers, sparked some strong reactions among iOS users on social media: “iOS 17 has the FaceTime button where the end call button used to be,” tweeted one user. “Muscle memory be damned.”A...