Paramount on Wednesday began laying off more than 2,000 employees, a long-awaited consequence of its merger with the Hollywood studio Skydance. The cuts, announced internally by David Ellison, Paramount’s CEO, will initially include roughly 1,000 employees in the United States across many divisions, including CBS News, the Paramount film studio...
Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill at Least 100, Local Health Officials Say
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli strikes killed at least 100 people across the Gaza Strip overnight, local health officials said, in what appeared to be the deadliest day since Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire three weeks ago. The strikes began late Tuesday after the Israeli government accused Hamas...
Big Tech Makes Cal State Campuses Its AI Training Ground
On the first day of AI Camp, a new summer program at California State University, Savannah Bosley got a hands-on introduction to Amazon Bedrock, a system for building artificial intelligence apps. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to put it on the résumé, to learn a new tool that’s maybe marketable,”...
Fresno County High-Speed Crash Leaves Two Dead, One Injured on Belmont Avenue
Two people, including a 14-year-old girl, were killed and another person was seriously injured in a solo vehicle crash late Tuesday on Belmont Avenue west of Brawley Avenue, authorities said. The California Highway Patrol said officers responded around 11:05 p.m. to find a vehicle that had left the roadway after...
Why Are Federal Election Monitors Heading to Fresno?
Why are federal election monitors heading to Fresno County? It stems from a sticky deadline in the 2022 election. Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was sending monitors to six locations in California and New Jersey “to ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law.” California...
Millions Face Food Aid Cliff in US Government Shutdown Standoff
WASHINGTON — Nearly 42 million people are set to lose food aid due to the second-longest U.S. government shutdown, as Democrats and Republicans in Congress continue to blame each other for a weeks-long legislative stalemate. Neither party was showing signs of changing its position days before funding for the Supplemental...
Jamaica’s Strongest-Ever Storm, Hurricane Melissa, Turns to Cuba
KINGSTON — Hurricane Melissa churned toward Cuba's second-largest city with the force of a powerful Category 4 storm on Tuesday, hours after making landfall in neighboring Jamaica as the strongest-ever cyclone on record to hit that Caribbean island nation. Melissa roared ashore near Jamaica's southwestern town of New Hope, packing...
Majority of Californians Back Prop. 50. Poll Shows Record Interest
A new Public Policy Institute of California survey finds that a majority of likely voters support Proposition 50, a November ballot measure that would temporarily change how the state draws congressional district maps — and that interest in the outcome is at record levels. According to the survey released at...
California Wants to Overhaul High School Learning. CART in Clovis Leads the Way
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. At CART High near Fresno, there is no gum stuck to the floor. The saffron-yellow walls are unmarred by graffiti. Toting laptops, students file calmly down spacious, light-filled hallways to classes like biotechnology and digital marketing. There’s no...
Americans Plan to Spend $1,007 on Holiday Gifts, Gallup Finds
U.S. consumers plan to spend an average of $1,007 on holiday gifts this year, according to Gallup’s latest poll. This amount roughly matches last year’s record-high expectations and signals continued strength in seasonal spending. Gallup’s Oct. 1-16 survey shows that 86% of Americans intend to buy gifts this season, while...