The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents, especially seniors, about a recent spike in phone scams in which callers pose as law enforcement, claim a loved one has been arrested, or seek bank information under the guise of processing gift cards. According to the sheriff’s office, scammers have recently...
US Invalidates Union Contract Covering 47,000 TSA Officers
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday terminated the collective bargaining agreement covering 47,000 Transportation Security Administration officers. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents the airport screening officers, said it will file suit to challenge the decision. In June, a U.S. judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking...
Flood-Stricken Towns in Washington State Brace for Potential Levee Failures
Residents and emergency crews in towns along the rain-engorged Skagit River in western Washington state braced on Friday for potential levee failures while National Guard troops assisted in evacuations after days of severe flooding in the Pacific Northwest. The entire town of Burlington, a community of about 9,200 people near...
UN Agency Warns Displaced Gazans Face Floods, as Emergency Supplies Blocked
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans face flooding of their tents and shelters by heavy rains, and materials for shelters and sandbags are not being allowed to enter the enclave, the U.N. International Organization for Migration said on Friday. Torrential rain swept across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, flooding tents...
New Tulare County Water District Already Wheeling and Dealing for Water
A new Tulare County water district is on a tight timeline to balance an opportunity to buy water for its farmers with the need to fund its operations long term. The board of the newly formed Consolidated Water District voted Dec. 3 to buy 2,900 acre-feet of water from three private...
For 2 Hours, a Soccer Match Offers Palestinians a Rarity: Joy
JERUSALEM — The Palestinians needed a win. Not on the battlefield, or at the United Nations, or in The Hague — but on the soccer field. For the first time, the Palestinian national soccer team had made it into the quarterfinals of the Arab Cup, a regional tournament dating back...
Fired Michigan Football Coach Sherrone Moore Charged With Stalking, Home Invasion
Dec 12 — Fired University of Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore, who is a suspect in an alleged assault, was charged on Friday with three crimes, including stalking and home invasion. Moore was fired by the university on Wednesday over allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a...
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Down for Users, Downdetector Shows
OpenAI experienced a possible outage Friday, according to Downdetector.com. More than 1,000 users had reported problems with the platform as of 11:35 a.m. PT, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collecting status reports from multiple sources. Most users reporting problems to Downdetector said they were experiencing issues with ChatGPT....
Former Madera County Benefits Worker Arrested for Stealing CalFresh Funds
A former Madera County welfare benefits worker was arrested Friday for allegedly using the identities of elderly and deceased individuals to steal more than $40,000 in CalFresh benefits, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced. Leticia Mariscal, 55, of Madera, worked as a benefits eligibility worker and used her access to county databases...
George Altman, Slugger in Negro Leagues, MLB, and Japan, Dies at 92
George Altman, who had one of the most diverse careers in baseball history, starting in the waning days of the Negro Leagues and then flourishing in the majors as a three-time All-Star before playing in Japan, where he became a fan favorite, died Nov. 24 at his home in O’Fallon,...