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Kids and social media: Here are tips for concerned parents

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:41:52 GMT

By BARBARA ORTUTAY (AP Technology Writer)When it comes to social media, families are seeking help. With ever-changing algorithms pushing content at children, parents are seeing their kids’ mental health suffer, even as platforms like TikTok and Instagram provide connections with friends. Some are questioning whether kids should be on social media at all, and if so, starting at what age. Lawmakers have taken notice. A bipartisan group of senators recently introduced legislation aiming to prohibit all children under the age of 13 from using social media. It would also require permission from a guardian for users under 18 to create an account. It is one of several proposals in Congress seeking to make the internet safer for children and teens.Meanwhile, on Wednesday the Federal Trade Commission said Facebook misled parents and failed to protect the privacy of children using its Messenger Kids app, including misrepresenting the access it provided to app developers to private user ...

Passenger who missed flight makes bomb threat, forces evacuation at LAX, police say

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:41:52 GMT

A JetBlue flight from Las Vegas was evacuated after landing in Los Angeles on Thursday after reports of a suspicious package on board.At around 2 p.m. authorities said a disgruntled passenger who missed his flight made a statement saying his luggage “contained a possible bomb” aboard the aircraft.The JetBlue plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport and was moved to an isolated area. Passengers and crew aboard the plane were evacuated and taken back to the terminal on shuttle busses as police inspected the aircraft.A JetBlue flight from las Vegas to Los Angeles was evacuated after reports of a suspicious package on board. (KTLA)A JetBlue flight from las Vegas to Los Angeles was evacuated after reports of a suspicious package on board. (KTLA)A JetBlue flight from las Vegas to Los Angeles was evacuated after reports of a suspicious package on board. (KTLA)A JetBlue flight from las Vegas to Los Angeles was evacuated after reports of a suspicious package on board. (KTLA)A JetBlu...

Thursday's tornado the 3rd to hit Los Angeles area in three months

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:41:52 GMT

Cell phone cameras captured the latest severe weather event to hit the Los Angeles metro area when a weak tornado touched down in Carson and Compton Thursday morning.Drea Martinez shared video on social media of rotating clouds and flying debris over Compton when the tornado, which the National Weather Service classified as an EF0, hit the area of 169th and Walnut streets around 8:55 a.m.The twister caused minor damage to buildings and cars. There were no reports of injuries.NWS said the degree of damage suggests the tornado had winds around 75 mph. An EF0 twister on the Enhanced Fujita Scale has 65 to 85 mph gusts.Drea Martinez shared video on social media of rotating clouds and flying debris over Compton when the tornado hit the area of 169th and Walnut streets around 8:55 a.m. May 4, 2023. (Drea Martinez)The roof of a business was damaged when a tornado hit Carson on May 4, 2023. (KTLA)The roof of a business was damaged when a tornado hit Carson on May 4, 2023. (KTLA)If you think...

OCSD honors local heroes in medal of valor ceremony

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:41:52 GMT

Local heroes, including a doctor who intervened during a mass shooting, were honored at Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s medal of valor ceremony Thursday. Doctor John Cheng was posthumously remembered and honored for helping stop a mass shooter at a Laguna Woods church last year. His wife accepted the award on his behalf.Other honorees included a deputy who saved a baby, and deputies who helped a person who was found unresponsive in a homeless encampment.

Davis stabbing suspect has Oakland ties

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:41:52 GMT

DAVIS — A 21-year-old former UC Davis student arrested Wednesday for allegedly committing three stabbings, including two that were fatal, within the last week attended high school in Oakland, according to reports.At a press conference Thursday, Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said Carlos Dominguez was taken into custody after 15 people called in reports of a person who matched the description of the suspect in a local park.Pytel said Dominguez had a large knife in his backpack. He was wearing the same clothes described by witnesses who saw the third stabbing. Pytel says police believe Dominguez is responsible for all three stabbings. It wasn’t immediately clear if Dominguez had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.NBC affiliate KCRA-TV in Sacramento reported it captured aerial footage of police Wednesday afternoon speaking with a person near a downtown park where the second victim, a 20-year-old UC Davis student was killed. Officers were then seen placing the person...

Despite strike, Amazon moving ahead with ‘Rings of Power’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:41:52 GMT

By Alli Rosenbloom | CNNProduction on Season 2 of Amazon Studios’ “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” series will be completed despite the writers’ strike that has halted much of Hollywood’s activity this week, a spokesperson for the streamer confirmed to CNN.The series only has 19 days of filming remaining and they remain “calmly on schedule,” according to the spokesperson, who also confirmed that scripts and other creative materials were “carefully considered and finished in advance of the strike, so production has not been affected.”Non-writing executive producers, directors and crew on “Rings of Power” will oversee the final weeks of production amid the strike as Amazon’s most expensive show inches closer to debuting its second season.Given the extensive post-production effort for a series of this scale, it’s likely that the striking writers from the show will be back in the mix before Season 2 air...

Sale closed in Piedmont: $3.8 million for a four-bedroom home

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:41:52 GMT

315 San Carlos Avenue – Google Street ViewA 3,157-square-foot house built in 1916 has changed hands. The spacious historic property located in the 300 block of San Carlos Avenue in Piedmont was sold on March 28, 2023, for $3,822,000, or $1,211 per square foot. The property features four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a garage, and three parking spaces. It sits on a 6,943-square-foot lot.Additional houses that have recently been sold close by include:A 2,995-square-foot home on the 300 block of El Cerrito Avenue in Piedmont sold in October 2022, for $3,500,000, a price per square foot of $1,169. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In August 2022, a 1,438-square-foot home on Magnolia Avenue in Piedmont sold for $1,205,000, a price per square foot of $838. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On El Cerrito Avenue, Piedmont, in November 2022, a 1,642-square-foot home was sold for $1,725,000, a price per square foot of $1,051. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. 

Letters: Water supply | A better plan | Family fun | GOP gamesmanship

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:41:52 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Bills pose threat toBay Area water supplyRe: “California needs to stop wasteful water diversions” (Page A8, April 16).Your editorial in favor of strengthening enforcement of water rights raised important points. Speeding enforcement actions and increasing fines against illegal water diverters are appropriate actions and would largely solve the stated problem.However, AB 460 and AB 1337 bills go much further and would create new powers for the state Water Resources Control Board to withhold legal diversions of water used by 2.7 million Bay Area residents across four counties without due process. This represents a drastic departure from long-standing water rights law and could reduce the water available for the region to meet its state-mandated housing production goals.The Bay Area Council wholeheartedly supports cracking down on illegal diversions, but lawmakers should commit to protecting leg...

Sen. Feinstein pushes back on criticism of her absence

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:41:52 GMT

By Morgan Rimmer and Jessica Dean | CNNSen. Dianne Feinstein on Thursday pushed back on claims that her extended absence from the Senate, and the Judiciary Committee, as she recovers from shingles has caused a significant delay in advancing and confirming judicial nominees. Feinstein indicated in the statement that she still plans to return but did not say when that would happen.“The Senate continues to swiftly confirm highly qualified individuals to the federal judiciary, including seven more judicial nominees who were confirmed this week. There has been no slowdown,” the California Democrat said in a statement.But she acknowledged that some nominees have been blocked from moving forward during her absence. Without Feinstein, the committee is tied. Under the power-sharing agreement in the last Congress, which had a 50-50 Senate, there was a provision that allowed for a tied nominee to be discharged from committee and put on the floor. That rule is no longer in place, ac...

Fla. Democrat Gillum found not guilty of lying to FBI

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:41:52 GMT

By Anthony Izaguirre | Associated PressTALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Former Florida Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum, who came within a whisker of defeating Republican Ron DeSantis in 2018, was acquitted Thursday of lying to the FBI in a corruption case that also involved illegal use of campaign contributions.But the federal jury hung on charges that Gillum funneled tens of thousands of dollars in campaign money to personal accounts. Prosecutors said they will retry him on those counts. They had claimed Gillum was struggling financially after quitting his $120,000-a-year job with the People for the American Way group to run for governor.Gillum was acquitted of lying to undercover FBI agents posing as developers who paid for a 2016 trip he took with his brother to New York, including hotel rooms, meals, a boat tour and a ticket to the hit Broadway show “Hamilton.”Outside the courthouse, Gillum thanked his family, wife, legal team and pastor for their support, but too...