For the third time in three elections, California voters are being asked to require changes to the operations of dialysis clinics that provide life-saving care to 80,000 people with kidney failure. Proposition 29 on the November ballot would require a doctor, nurse practitioner or physicians’ assistant to be present...
Valley City Rests Easier After Serial Killings Arrest
Residents of Stockton were able to rest easier following the weekend arrest of a man suspected of killing six men and wounding a woman in a series of shootings over a period of three months in Northern California, the city's mayor said Sunday. Mayor Kevin Lincoln said he shed...
Biden Turning to Trump-Era Rule to Expel Venezuelan Migrants
Two years ago, candidate Joe Biden loudly denounced President Donald Trump for immigration policies that inflicted “cruelty and exclusion at every turn,” including toward those fleeing the "brutal" government of socialist Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Now, with increasing numbers of Venezuelans arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border as the Nov. 8 election nears, Biden...
4 Killed as Waves of Suicide Drones Strike Ukraine’s Capital
Waves of explosives-laden suicide drones struck Ukraine's capital Monday, setting buildings ablaze and tearing a hole in one of them. People scurried for shelter or tried to shoot down the kamikazes. The concentrated use of the drones was the second barrage in as many weeks — after months in which...
Kanye West to Buy Conservative Social Media Platform Parler
The rapper formerly known as Kanye West is offering to buy right-wing friendly social network Parler shortly after being booted off Twitter and Instagram for antisemitic posts. The acquisition of Parler would give West, legally known as Ye, control of a social media platform and a new outlet for...
Who Is Leading the Crackdown on Iran’s Protests?
They show up at the first signs of protest in Iran — men in black, riding motorcycles, often wielding guns or batons. They are members of what's known as the Basij, paramilitary volunteers who are fiercely loyal to the Islamic Republic. The shock troops of the ayatollahs have taken on...
New Desalination Plant Will Boost California’s Drought-Depleted Water Supplies
DANA POINT — With California struggling through historic drought, the state's Coastal Commission on Thursday approved a desalination plant that could turn up to 5 million gallons of seawater a day into drinkable water. The commission voted 11-0 to approve the proposed Doheny Ocean Desalination Project in Dana Point, southeast...
Musk Wants US to Pay Tab for His Satellite Network over Ukraine
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has gotten a request from SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk to take over funding for his satellite network that has provided crucial battlefield communications for Ukrainian military forces during the war with Russia, U.S. officials said Friday. The officials, who spoke on condition of...
RIP, Robbie Coltrane, 72. As Hagrid, He Delivered This Memorable Line to Harry Potter
LONDON — Robbie Coltrane, the baby-faced comedian and character actor whose hundreds of roles included a crime-solving psychologist on the TV series “Cracker” and the gentle half-giant Hagrid in the “Harry Potter” movies, has died. He was 72. Coltrane’s agent Belinda Wright said he died Friday at a hospital...
U.S. Bank Gobbles Up Union Bank in $8B Buy
NEW YORK — Key financial regulators on Friday approved U.S. Bank's $8 billion acquisition of Japanese financial titan MUFG's Union Bank franchise, clearing big regulatory hurdles for a deal that will push U.S. Bank closer to the size of Wall Street’s mega banks. But in reaching those approvals, both the...