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Retail crime up 18% in Walnut Creek

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:26 GMT

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KRON) – The City of Walnut Creek is seeing an 18 percent increase in retail crime in 2023. On Tuesday, Walnut Creek police held a meeting with downtown business owners to start a conversation about retail crime and how they’re trying to prevent it.Walnut Creek police say they knew they wanted to hold this meeting after an uptick in commercial burglaries in July. There was a pattern for those cases, and a suspect was apprehended.But in August, they saw more burglaries, so they wanted to talk directly with the people who could become victims – business owners. Person robbed, dragged by 2 armed suspects in Oakland: video “Walnut Creek is doing well," said city councilmember Kevin Wilk. "Our downtown community is thriving and we are going to attract, unfortunately, people who are looking to not do good here.”Walnut Creek police and local leaders spoke directly, and candidly, with downtown business owners. They say while residential and auto burglaries are down, c...

Condado Montgomery presenta plan contra el ausentismo escolar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:26 GMT

Según datos de las Escuelas Públicas del Condado Montgomery, el absentismo escolar ha llegado a un punto preocupante, y el martes las autoridades se pusieron manos a la obra para combatirlo con un ambicioso plan. “Todos juntos ahora: en la escuela juntos aprendemos juntos”, es el nombre del plan que las autoridades piensan implementar este año para combatir el ausentismo en los planteles, que según ellos se vio severamente afectado después de la pandemia.“Como que se dieron cuenta que podían seguir las clases por internet, que no tenían que salir de su dormitorio, quedarse en la cama. Entonces a algunos les ha costado ajustarse otra vez a la rutina”, dijo Karla Silvestre, la presidenta de la junta escolar del condado.En el año escolar 2018-2019, más de 30,000 estudiantes faltaron a más de 18 días de clases y en el año escolar 2022-2023 la cifra llegó a casi 43,000 estudiantes.“La asistencia escolar es súper importante. El niño no puede aprender si no está yendo a la escuela tod...

Gallen, Pham push the Diamondbacks to a 5th straight win, 6-3 over the Rangers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:26 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Zac Gallen struck out 11 over six stellar innings, Alek Thomas had a spectacular diving catch on the warning track for the first out of the ninth and the Arizona Diamondbacks held off the skidding Texas Rangers 6-3 on Tuesday night.Tommy Pham extended his hitting streak to 13 games for the D-backs, who swept the two-game series and have won five straight games, helping their cause in a crowded National League wild-card race. They’re currently a half-game ahead of the Giants and Reds for the final spot.The Rangers have lost six straight and are just a half-game ahead of the Astros for first place in the AL West.Arizona led 6-1 after six innings, but Texas cut the margin to 6-3 in the seventh on Corey Seager’s two-run single. The Rangers loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, and closer Paul Sewald struck out Mitch Garver and coaxed a groundout from Travis Jankowski to get his 27th save.Gallen (14-5) is among the frontrunners for the NL Cy Young race an...

Bodycam video showing man shot, killed by officer in College Area released

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego police released bodycam video Tuesday showing the moment an officer shot and killed an armed suspect while carrying out a search warrant at an apartment complex in the College Area.The shooting occurred around 6:45 p.m. on Aug. 15 in the 6100 block of El Cajon Boulevard, according to SDPD. Detectives were attempting to contact a man who considered a person of interest in a shooting in Clairemont earlier this month. Watch bodycam video (WARNING: graphic images) The video released Tuesday begins with private dashcam footage of the initial incident, which occurred nearby the intersection of Ben Street and Beagle Street around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 2. In the video pulled from a parked car, two occupants in a white Tesla can be seen opening the car's doors to shoot at another car. At least five shots can be heard before the two suspects got back into the Tesla, reversing the car out of sight of the dash cam.Shortly after, officers located the Tesla in the alley behin...

Two San Diego smoke shops facing lawsuit for alleged sale of flavored tobacco products

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott is suing two local businesses who allegedly continued the sale of flavored tobacco products after the state banned their distribution.The lawsuit accuses Keg n Bottle and Payless Smoke Shop of selling the illegal products repeatedly between May and August of this year. New California bill expands microenterprise home kitchen operations “I sent investigators into these retail establishments and they made purchases of products that were not supposed to be on the shelves," Elliott said. "It didn’t happen once, it happened many times, and that happened over the course of several months."As of Jan. 1, 2023, the sale of flavored tobacco products has been outlawed both in California and the city of San Diego, largely due to how the items attract teens to begin e-cigarette use.Keg N Bottle's owner, Tony Konja, provided FOX 5 the following statement:"Keg N bottle is a family run business that has grown to 12 locations by serving San Diego C...

Ramp between SR-78, I-15 set to close for construction

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:26 GMT

ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- One of the connector ramps between State Route 78 and Interstate 15 will be closed overnight several days this week for work to the bridge, Caltrans announced.Crews will be closing the ramp for maintenance between eastbound SR-78 and southbound I-15 through Wednesday morning from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. for work to the bridge.According to Caltrans, motorists will be detoured by Portable Changeable Message Signs along the following route during the closure: eastbound on SR-78 to the exit at Centre City Parkway, then left to the westbound SR-78 on-ramp to connect to the southbound I-15. Boulders ‘about as big as a school bus’ fall onto I-8 Caltrans reminds drivers to watch for highway workers and moving equipment while traveling near the work zone.For real-time traffic information including traffic speed, lane and road closures due to construction and maintenance activities, motorists can visit Caltrans’ QuickMap. Drivers can also visit Caltrans on Twitter&nb...

Chinese coast guard blocks Philippine vessels near disputed shoal but two supply boats breach cordon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:26 GMT

ABOARD BRP CABRA (AP) — As a U.S. Navy plane circled overhead, two Philippine boats breached a Chinese coast guard blockade in a dangerous confrontation Tuesday in the disputed South China Sea to deliver food and other supplies to Filipino forces guarding a contested shoal.Two Philippine coast guard vessels escorting the supply boats, however, were blocked by at least four Chinese coast guard ships for about five hours in the tense standoff off Second Thomas Shoal.The dangerous encounter is the latest flare-up from the long-seething territorial disputes in the busy sea that involve China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. It’s regarded as an Asian flashpoint and has become a delicate fault line in the US-China rivalry.The Philippine coast guard invited a small group of journalists, including two from The Associated Press, to join its ships that secured the supply boats as part of a new strategy aimed at exposing China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the Sou...

Tsai renews her pledge to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense during her visit to war memorial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:26 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen renewed her pledge to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense on Wednesday as she visited a war memorial from the last time Taiwan and China battled. Tsai, visiting the outlying islands of Kinmen where the conflict was fought 65 years ago, commemorated those who died in the conflict. She was accompanied by Minister of Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng and the head of the National Security Council, Wellington Koo.“In order to keep the peace, we need to strengthen ourselves,” said Tsai. “As such, we need to continue to reform the national defense, push for self-reliance, strengthen our defense capabilities and resilience.” Taiwan’s government on Monday revealed plans for the 2024 budget that had a 3.5% increase in the defense budget, a record $606.8 billion New Taiwan Dollars ($19 billion), according to the semi-official Central News Agency. The proposed budget must be submitted to the Legislature for approval.Tsai’s words have par...

As oil activities encroach on sacred natural sites, a small Ugandan community feels besieged

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:26 GMT

BULIISA, Uganda (AP) — Alex Wakitinti is worried about the sacred natural sites he tends in the large swath of bushy grassland near Lake Albert. It’s the same slice of his homeland that oil companies are developing in order for Uganda to become an oil producer by 2026.But French oil company TotalEnergies and others working toward that goal are recklessly ignoring the significance of Wakitinti’s spiritual work, he said, as well as that of the other custodians minding hallowed natural sites in the remote district of Buliisa near the Congo border. “According to the program of Total, custodians are not there,” said Wakitinti, chief custodian of sacred sites in Buliisa. “We are not in their program.”That is a mistake, he said, making note of the bad luck that can come from disturbing these special places without performing the necessary rituals or making sacrifices to spirit mediums — like the tree Wakitinti recently knelt under to pray and present a bird’s ...

Discover statistics in a fun way with ‘My country in a bubble’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:26 GMT

If you want to start exploring the world of statistics, Eurostat has the perfect visualisation tool for you: ‘My country in a bubble’. This tool was created for beginners, being a nice addition to any classroom, making statistics fun to access and understand.The bubbles cover a wide range of data from population to economy and environment, giving all users, not only students, a large statistical playground. The ‘People’ chapter includes data on population by age, young and elderly people, life expectancy, youth unemployment, poverty and tourism; ‘Economy’ includes GDP per person, food prices and expenditure, government expenditure and price levels; and ‘Environment’ covers everything from renewables and waste to organic agricultural areas and electric cars. Click on the theme you are interested in, and the related topics will appear. You choose your favourite and the bubbles for the EU, member states, and EFTA countries move on the screen to their position in the plot area...