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Man charged with sexual assault of two women in Angeles National Forest
Los Angeles County prosecutors charged a 40-year-old man with sexually assaulting two women in his van in a secluded part of the Angeles National Forest earlier this week.Eduardo Sarabia was charged Wednesday with one count of forcible rape and one count of forcible oral copulation, according to court records. Sarabia is accused of raping a woman after driving her to a concealed area of the forest on Sunday and then sexually assaulting a second woman in the same remote area on Monday, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s office announced in a news release. The incidents took place along Highway 39 between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. authorities said.“The horrific and violent sexual assault that these two survivors endured by the alleged suspect is deeply troubling and incomprehensible. Our thoughts are with the victims during this tremendously difficult time,” Gascón said in a statement on Thursday.The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help to find any additional victims. Based on the circumstances surrounding the case, investigators believe there could be more unidentified victims. The Sheriff’s Department released images of Sarabia and his windowless white-paneled van.“I want to emphasize that this is an ongoing investigation, and there may be additional victims who have yet to come forward. I urge anyone who has been affected by similar incidents to contact law enforcement and seek available resources,” Gascón said.Sarabia was arraigned in a Pomona courtroom Wednesday and is due back in court June 27. Anyone with information about this case can contact the Sheriff’s Department, Special Victims Bureau at 877-710-5273 or by email at specialvictimsbureau@lasd.org. More to Read
Biden moves to block release of audio of his classified documents interview with special counsel Hur
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has asserted executive privilege over audio recordings of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur, the Republican federal prosecutor who declined to recommend charges against the president over his handling of classified documents.Hur wrote in his report that one reason not to bring a case against Biden is that the president would be sympathetic to a jury and could portray himself as an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Biden defended his abilities, and Attorney General Merrick Garland later said it would be “absurd“ for him to have tried to block Hur’s language about the president’s memory.White House counsel Ed Siskel notified Reps. James Comer, R-Ky., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, of the decision in a letter on Thursday. It came after Garland recommended that Biden assert executive privilege. The Department of Justice had already given House Republicans transcripts of the interviews.“It is the longstanding position of the executive branch held by administrations of both parties that an official who asserts the President’s claim of executive privilege cannot be prosecuted for criminal contempt of Congress," Justice Department official Carlos Felipe Uriarte wrote in a letter to Jordan, of Ohio, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Comer, of Kentucky, chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Garland wrote in a separate letter to Biden that the audio recordings of his interview "fall within the scope of executive privilege," and that giving the recordings to Congress "would raise an unacceptable risk of undermining the Department’s ability to conduct similar high-profile criminal investigations — in particular, investigations where the voluntary cooperation of White House officials is exceedingly important.”In comments to the press on Thursday morning, Garland said the Justice Department had "gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the committees get responses to their legitimate requests, but this is not one."Releasing audio of an interview, he said, "would harm our ability in the future to successfully pursue sensitive investigations," saying this was part of a "series of unprecedented and frankly, unfounded attacks" on the Justice Department, including efforts to hold Garland in contempt to obtain the audio."This request, this effort to use contempt as a method of obtaining our sensitive law enforcement files is just the most recent," Garland said. "The effort to threaten to defund our investigations and the way in which there are contributions to an atmosphere that puts our agents and our prosecutors at risk, these are wrong. Look, the only thing I can do is continue to do the right thing. I will protect this building and its people."House Republicans have been using their bully pulpit to undermine the criminal prosecutions of Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, and to attack Biden ahead of their 2024 election rematch. Hours after Biden asserted executive privilege, the House Judiciary Committee voted 18-15 to send a report to the full House recommending that Garland be held in contempt of Congress. The House Oversight Committee is scheduled to hold its own markup of a contempt resolution for Garland Thursday evening because several of its GOP members were in New York earlier in the day to attend former President Trump's hush money trial.Speaker Johnson did not commit to a timeline for putting the contempt resolution on the floor for a full House vote, saying at a press conference Thursday morning, "We’ll see how that develops, one issue at a time.”While a transcript of Biden's interview has already been released, the Jan. 6 committee illustrated that audio and visuals can pack a much harder political punch with the American public than dense, written reports that very few voters will actually read.News outlets, including NBC News, have joined in the push for the release of the audio under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), arguing that transcripts are no substitute for audio recordings.John Fishwick, a former U.S. Attorney under former President Barack Obama, told NBC News that the Justice Department "should not stand on a flimsy executive privilege argument to stall the release of President Biden’s audio interviews with Special Counsel Hur" and that Biden and the Justice Department "should promote full transparency of the Hur investigation and release the audio recordings now."Trump, who is currently facing four separate criminal cases in which he has pleaded not guilty, did not sit down with then-special counsel Robert Mueller's team during the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a decision which paid off for the former president. Trump said he was "f---ed," when he learned about Mueller's appointment, and said it would be the "worst thing that ever happened" to him. Publicly, Trump claimed he wanted to talk to Mueller, even saying he'd "override" his lawyers, but he ultimately never sat down with investigators.Trump's 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, did sit down with the FBI during the investigation into her handling of classified documents. Clinton has called the bureau's decision to reopen the investigation just days before the 2016 election "the determining factor" in her loss to Trump.In 1998, President Bill Clinton testified before a federal grand jury as part of the investigation into whether he lied under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. That video was made public by the House Judiciary Committee about a month later.Then, as now, the White House argued that the video was being released only to embarrass the president. In that case, Independent Counsel Ken Starr willingly turned over the Clinton video to Congress. The independent counsel statute expired in 1999 and special counsels now operate under different regulations.In comments to the press in the same week that he called Trump's hush money trial "an atrocity," House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Biden was "using his authority to defend himself politically." (Trump has used the authority of his former office to fend off trial on federal election interference charges by arguing all the way up to the Supreme Court that he's covered by presidential immunity, successfully delaying a trial that was supposed to be underway back in March, and would likely have resulted in a verdict by this point.)"President Biden is apparently afraid for the citizens of this country and everyone to hear those tapes,” Johnson said. “They obviously confirm what the Special Counsel has found, and would likely cause I suppose, in his estimation, such alarm with the American people that the President is using all of his power to suppress their release."Johnson struck a much different note after the Mueller probe ended five years ago in 2019, telling NPR that "it's time to move on" and that "trying to redo" the special counsel investigation "would be a waste of our time," and pointing to the importance of Justice Department regulations about the release of sensitive information."There are current DOJ regulations that prohibit [then-Attorney General Bill Barr] from revealing classified information for obvious reasons, secret grand jury information, other sensitive information," Johnson said then.The House Oversight Committee was supposed to hold a hearing this morning to consider recommending contempt charges against Garland, but the Trump trial took precedence over the Biden probe.Several members of the panel made plans to show their allegiance to Trump by appearing at the courthouse today, forcing Comer to pull the plug on the 11 a.m. hearing and move it to 8 p.m. tonight. While Trump no doubt appreciates their presence as political validators, the House members have no official role in the trial.
Death Valley National Park visitor admits to toppling historic salt tram tower
A Death Valley National Park visitor has stepped forward and taken responsibility for knocking over a 113-year-old salt tram tower last month, claiming it happened during a time of desperation and that there was no intent to harm the historic structure, park officials announced.“We are grateful to the dozens of people who reached out to the park with information and for all the statements of support that we received from people who care about this place and its cultural resources,” said acting Supt. Elizabeth Ibañez in a written statement. “Although we would certainly prefer that this damage hadn’t happened, we are glad that the person who did this ultimately took responsibility for their actions and came forward.”The confession comes three days after park officials sought help from the public about the damaged tower that was part of the Saline Valley Salt Tram, a 13-mile aerial tramway built in 1911. The officials said someone toppled it between April 1 and April 24 when they attached a winch to the tower to pull their vehicle out of the mud after driving off the main road. “The individual responsible for pulling over the salt tram called the tip line provided in an earlier press release, stating that this was done during a time of desperation while being deeply stuck in mud, and that it wasn’t their intent to cause harm to the historic structure,” the statement read. Park officials did not identify the person but an 11-minute dash cam video reported by Outside Magazine may have shown those responsible for knocking the tower down. An edited version of the video was posted on the magazine’s website. That version of the video, which is about two minutes long, starts with a man pulling up next to a woman wearing a pink bikini top, jean shorts and a trucker hat. The woman tells the driver that she needs a winch.“We went a little too far into the mud, and there’s nothing to press the winch onto,” she’s heard saying.The video then shows a white truck with a camper deep in mud, and at the edge of the screen is the tram tower, which appears to already be lying on its side. The video also shows the woman next to a man in a flannel shirt and jean shorts after an attempt to pull the vehicle out failed. Eventually, a second line is needed to pull the truck out, but the video ends before it can show the results of that attempt.It’s unclear whether the couple or any of the people seen in the video caused the tower to topple, but the magazine included a photo of the man in the flannel shirt removing a winch from the downed tower.A spokesperson did not respond to questions from The Times about whether the person taking responsibility was in that video.National Park Service said a resource management team will assess the damage to the salt tram tower and make restoration plans. It also asked the public to remain patient and not attempt to restore the tower themselves. The incident, officials said, was a reminder of why it’s important to carry a satellite-based communication device when traveling in areas where cellphone service is limited. “As Death Valley’s famous summer temperatures continue to increase, park rangers encourage people to stay on paved roads during this time of year, as help is more readily available.” More to Read
Las Vegas’ Mirage Resort to close after 34-year run. Volcano to go dormant
Once hailed as “Las Vegas’ first 21 Century resort,” The Mirage Hotel & Casino confirmed Wednesday that its iconic volcano outside of its front entrance is going dormant less than a quarter of a century into the new millennium.Owner Hard Rock International announced the hotel will cease operations on July 17, with bookings being accepted until July 14. The iconic resort — sporting a jungle-fantasy theme —was perhaps best known for its exploding 54-foot man-made volcano, magicians Siegfried and Roy, and its white tigers and dolphins.“We’d like to thank the Las Vegas community and team members for warmly welcoming Hard Rock after enjoying 34 years at The Mirage,” said Jim Allen, Chairman of Hard Rock International in a statement.The resort is expected to be redeveloped into the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Guitar Hotel Las Vegas, with the volcano giving way to a nearly 700-foot guitar-shaped hotel. The project is expected to open in spring 2027. A similar 638-room hotel stands in Hollywood, Fla.The Associated Press reported that more than 3,000 employees will be laid off. Hard Rock acknowledged it would pay roughly $80 million in severance packages for union and nonunion labor.The Culinary and Bartenders Union accounts for about 1,700 Mirage workers. It announced Wednesday that its workers have two options.The first was a severance package of $2,000 for every year of service plus six months of pension and health benefits. The second option gives employees a lesser, undisclosed amount while maintaining seniority rights for the duration of the property’s closure along with 36 months of recall rights for jobs at the new hotel.“Culinary Union members at The Mirage have a strong union contract, ensuring that workers are protected, even as the property closes its doors entirely for three years from July 2024 - May 2027,” said Ted Pappageorge, Culinary Union secretary-treasurer, in a statement Wednesday.The new hotel is projected to employ nearly 7,000 employees, according to Hard Rock management, while 2,500 construction jobs are expected during the rebuilding process.Hard Rock said that all reservations beyond July 14 would be canceled and that guests should contact the guest services department or booking agency for a refund.The Mirage’s closure is the second on the strip this year.In April, the 66-year-old Tropicana closed its doors to make way for a 30,000-seat stadium that is expected to serve as the home of the Oakland A’s.The Mirage’s opening by casino tycoon Stephen A. Wynn in 1989 was hailed as the ushering of a new era of mega resorts. It was the first strip hotel to open since the MGM Grand in 1973.Wynn shelled out $600 million, then the most expensive casino project, for the sprawling 103-acre property.Its glistening 30-story white-and-gold towers were said to make neighboring Caesars Palace look “retiring by comparison.” Traffic occasionally backed up on the strip as engineers tested gas-flared flames 40 feet into the air every few minutes.“People just got out of the cars and went over to see what was going on,” one limousine driver said at the time.The hotel included a 20,000-gallon fish tank at its reception desk and 3,049 rooms.Its animals — and its white tiger habitat — brought the resort fame and infamy, including in 2003 when a tiger critically injured magician Roy Horn.The Mirage’s opening kicked off a resort building and remodeling spree that included the debut of the Circus Circus’ Excalibur in June 1990, the $250-million renovation of Caesars Palace and the opening of Treasure Island in 1994. More to Read
Visa changes coming this year will mean fewer cards for Americans – Fox Business
Visa changes coming this year will mean fewer cards for Americans Fox Business Visa Reinvents the Card, Unveils New Products for ...
UC Irvine protest: Newport Beach mayor claps back at Irvine mayor’s tweet over ‘violent scenario’
A clash between police and pro-Palestinian protesters at UC Irvine now includes the mayors of Irvine and Newport Beach.After his city’s police department responded to a request for mutual aid at the Orange County campus Wednesday, Newport Beach Mayor Will O’Neill took umbrage with a social media post by Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan, who asked the college administration to avoid a “violent scenario” with the protests.The scene played out in a similar fashion to other pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses across the country, with police in riot gear clashing with student protesters. The UC Irvine administration put out a call for police agencies from across Orange County to join the Irvine Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department “as protesters swarmed the campus joining a group of protesters who had established an encampment on the campus,” the university said Wednesday afternoon in an emergency bulletin.Khan, who took the mayoral office in 2020, wrote in a post on the social media platform X that it was “a shame that peaceful free speech protests are always responded to with violence. Taking space on campus or in a building is not a threat to anyone.”The university’s “leadership must do everything they can to avoid creating a violent scenario here. These are your students w/ zero weapons,” Khan said. Police officers from Newport Beach are currently in Irvine providing assistance at the request of a mutual aid call. Your careless wording makes it appear that you are preemptively accusing our officers, and officers from the many law enforcement agencies who responded, of…— Will O'Neill (@RealWillONeill) May 16, 2024 Khan, a Democrat elected to the City Council in 2018, is the first Muslim woman to hold the Irvine mayor’s office.Her comments drew a swift response from O’Neill, who accused her of “careless wording.” The post, O’Neill said on X, “makes it appear that you are preemptively accusing our officers, and officers from the many law enforcement agencies who responded, of violence.”“If that’s what you meant, then your message is beneath the office of Mayor. If it is not, then clarify immediately,” said O’Neill, a Republican who is currently serving in his second term as Newport Beach’s mayor.O’Neill said in an emailed statement to The Times on Thursday that Khan’s “preemptive insult” to the police agencies who responded to the request for law enforcement on campus was “reckless and ill-advised.”He’s asked for clarification or an apology to the Newport Beach Police Department, but said he hasn’t heard from the city of Irvine.“Her words, though, will not stop the Newport Beach Police Department from providing mutual aid to the good residents of Irvine in the event that assistance is required again,” O’Neill said. “Our Newport Beach Police Department answers the call, and I’m proud of them.”Khan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The actions at UC Irvine began around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday amid protesters’ calling on the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel. The campus announced in a social media post that a group of protesters had entered a lecture hall, with the building takeover broadcast over Instagram. Protesters hung signs that read, “UC Divest from genocide,” while others erected a barricade with wooden pallets.Police officers moved into the campus Wednesday evening armed with nonlethal projectile launchers and ripped down the makeshift barriers and encampments. The university, which moved classes online Thursday, reported that 50 people were arrested. More to Read
Biden announces ‘major step’ toward reclassifying marijuana
The Biden administration announced Thursday it had initiated the formal rulemaking process to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III from its Schedule I designation that it has held for over 50 years. This announcement follows the Department of Justice’s announcement last month that if planned to proceed with rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III which the Department of Health and Human Services had recommended last year. “This is monumental. Today my administration took a major step to reclassify marijuana from a schedule one drug to a schedule three drug. It’s an important move toward reversing long-standing inequities,” Biden said in a statement shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Today’s announcement builds on the work we’ve already done to pardon a record number of federal offenses for simple possession of marijuana. And it adds to the action we’ve taken to lift barriers to housing, employment, small business loans, and so much more for tens of thousands of Americans,” he added. The rulemaking process includes opening the rule up to comments from the public, an administrative hearing and final consideration from the Drug Enforcement Administration. Marijuana and drug policy experts were underwhelmed by the White House’s aim of rescheduling, saying it doesn’t go far enough to address the issues surrounding marijuana’s criminalization. A Schedule III designation will mean marijuana will still carry potential penalties, though these will be lesser under a new categorization. Complete decriminalization of marijuana could be accomplished through Congress with legislation removing the drug from the Controlled Substances Act.
Critics say Prop. 28 arts funding is being misspent. School administrators need to show their work
Proposition 28, the ballot initiative approved by voters in 2022, directs nearly $1 billion a year to California’s K-12 schools to expand their arts education programs such as music, dance, theater, painting and photography. But now that those funds are rolling out, powerful labor unions and proponents of the measure, including the California Teachers Assn. and former L.A Unified School District Supt. Austin Beutner, have accused the LAUSD and other school districts of misusing the money by backfilling funding that’s been cut or redirected for other purposes.“It has come to our attention, however, that some school districts in California are willfully violating the law by using the new funds provided by Prop. 28 to replace existing spending for arts education at schools” they wrote in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state leaders in March. Although they didn’t name the districts, in interviews they said that the LAUSD was among dozens of districts they believe to be misusing arts funds.These are troubling allegations. Although critics have not named the other districts because they have not verified those claims, they say they have documented misuse by the LAUSD. LAUSD administrators deny the claims, but they owe it to the public to provide clear and detailed documentation showing how exactly how the Proposition 28 funds are being used. Proposition 28 requires that a portion of California’s general fund, equal to 1% of the minimum state funding levels for K-12 schools and community colleges, be set aside to expand visual and performing arts education programs. The law is exceedingly clear that this money must be spent to increase arts education programs.But United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz said the teachers union heard from school principals and parents that funding for arts programs at their schools has decreased this school year or that Proposition 28 money has merely supplanted existing arts funding. “We know from many schools that previous funding for arts teachers was cut and school administrators told them that the only way to keep teachers and aides was to use the Prop. 28 funding,” Myart-Cruz said in an interview.LAUSD officials say those allegations are baseless and the district is using the $76 million in Proposition 28 arts funding it received this school year only to augment its programming. They said the number of arts teachers has nearly doubled districtwide, from the equivalent of 273 full-time positions last school year to 540 this year. “We have all the data and evidence to prove that,” Deputy Supt. Pedro Salcido said in an interview, though he acknowledged that because funding is allocated on a per-pupil basis, some schools with declining enrollment received less arts funding this year than the year before. But he said the LAUSD’s only obligation is to demonstrate expanded arts programming districtwide.The district recently announced plans to use another $7 million to help schools that saw a net loss in arts funding. Salcido said members of the public can check how much Proposition 28 money their school has received and how it is being used by reviewing individual school spending reports that are posted in an online directory. But our review suggests it will be difficult for laypeople to make sense of these spreadsheets and get clear answers about how spending has changed. Furthermore, the burden shouldn’t be on parents and students who have long suffered from a lack of arts teachers and too few opportunities to develop their musical and artistic talent. LAUSD officials should report detailed, easy-to-understand metrics for every school. They should include how many hours of arts instruction students receive in each school compared to past years and how they are complying with the law’s requirements to provide extra funding to schools with more low-income students.The California Department of Education has taken the complaints from organized labor and Proposition 28 advocates seriously, though it has not confirmed any misuse. Still, it was concerned enough to send all local educational agencies in the state a reminder from state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond that the law requires funds “be used to supplement arts and music programs, not to supplant.”One reason this measure won such overwhelming voter support was because of the clearly defined restrictions on this money, placing it in a proverbial lockbox to be used only for expanded arts instruction, not to free up money for other priorities. Proposition 28 was pitched as a way to enhance life-changing arts education at public and charter schools, from preschool to 12th grade, while protecting art programs from being first on the chopping block when budget outlooks worsen.All new laws have kinks to work out when they first take effect, and school districts have three years to use the funds once they are allocated. But this is such a large statewide investment that its implementation at each district and school should be well documented and scrutinized closely to ensure that all students are reaping the benefits.“Families should expect arts education to increase at every school over the next three years,” said Elizabeth Sanders, a California Department of Education spokesperson. We agree, and urge state education officials to demand that school district administrators show their work and demonstrate they are delivering the expanded arts education voters were promised. More to Read
Justice Department formally moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in historic shift
Justice Department formally moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in historic shift – WOODTV.com Skip to content ...
Truck Driver Is Killed in Episode at TSMC’s Arizona Semiconductor Plant – The New York Times
Truck Driver Is Killed in Episode at TSMC’s Arizona Semiconductor Plant The New York Times Driver killed in incident at Arizona ...
