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Florissant bank manager sentenced for defrauding elderly customers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:21 GMT

ST. LOUIS – A former Commerce Bank manager from Florissant, Missouri, was sentenced to federal prison Monday for stealing more than $175,000 from elderly customers.Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Missouri said Andrea Hopkins, 29, pleaded guilty to four counts of bank fraud in January.According to court documents, between Feb. 20, 2020, and May 25, 2021, Hopkins would divert money from customer accounts by transferring funds into cashier’s checks or prepaid cards in other people’s names. In order to conceal her crimes, Hopkins would change the addresses on some account statements, forge signatures, and transfer money between customers. Cherokee Street shooting: Police release images of suspects Hopkins targeted older customers because she knew they had a diminished mental capacity and did not fully understand their finances.Prosecutors said Hopkins diverted $328,273 from customer accounts, but transferred $152,431 among customer accounts to co...

Rockies’ Bud Black remembers Vida Blue with a New York Post headline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:21 GMT

PITTSBURGH — Bud Black’s eyes lit up and a huge smile broke out when he was asked about the late, great Vida Blue.Then Black started telling stories, including one about a memorable New York Post headline. More on that in a moment.“Vida Blue was a great teammate and a great guy,” the Rockies manager said Monday before his team played the Pirates. “He was wonderful to me. We were both left-handed pitchers and he was a sounding board for me.”Black was a 25-year-old rookie with Kansas City when Oakland traded Blue, 32, to the Royals in 1982. The two were teammates for two seasons.On Aug. 16 that year, Blue pitched the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium and Black pitched the second. The Yankees won the first game, 2-0, on Lee Mazzilli’s two-run home run.Related ArticlesColorado Rockies | Brenton Doyle flashes power, speed as Rockies bludgeon Mets for sixth win in last seven games Colorado Rockies | Inside t...

Big rig driver in 'grave' condition following crash near Sunland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:21 GMT

The driver of a big rig was found unresponsive and in grave condition following a crash on the 210 Freeway near Sunland Monday afternoon.The crash happened around 2:40 p.m. on the eastbound side of the freeway, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. According to the California Highway Patrol log, the truck was traveling on the left side of the roadway when it abruptly swerved right, cutting across all lanes of traffic, before crashing into the hill on the side of the roadway.A caller also reported that the truck may have caught fire at some point.Video from Sky5 showed the truck, possibly a trash hauler, on the side of the road wedged between the hillside and several trees and bushes.Traffic was backed up for several miles and the California Highway Patrol issued a SigAlert to close several lanes of the roadway. By 3:30 p.m., all lanes were reopened, CHP said. The cause of the crash is under investigation and the condition of the driver is unclear at this time.

Authorities investigating a man's death after being struck and killed by Metrolink train in Irvine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:21 GMT

Authorities with the Irvine Police Department are investigating the death of a 64-year-old man after he was struck and killed by a train Monday morning.At 7:36 a.m., officers with the police department and Orange County Fire Authority responded to a report about a pedestrian being struck by a Metrolink train traveling northbound in the 170 Technology Drive area in Irvine. California woman gains custody of infant to make sexually explicit videos, sentenced to decades in federal prison The train engineer told authorities that he saw a man waving at him while standing by himself on the wood planks near the outside of the tracks, a news release said.Officials said that the engineer began to slow the train down while blowing the horn and saw the man turn his back to the train and appear to walk away from the scene.The unidentified man was hit by the train and died at the scene. No other injuries were reported. Authorities said the man’s identity wouldn’t be released until his next of k...

Suspected pipe bombs left at man's home in Yucaipa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:21 GMT

Investigators are searching for a woman who was seen on security camera footage leaving two pipe bombs at a man's home in Yucaipa Monday morning.According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, a man called 911 around 7:15 a.m. after he discovered a small box in his driveway. The box contained two "cylinder objects with fuses."Sheriff's deputies from the Yucaipa Police Department responded and verified that the objects were "consistent with explosive devices, specifically pipe bombs."The Sheriff's Department arson and bomb squad responded to the scene and rendered the two pipe bombs safe. Although specific details were not released, typically, homemade explosive devices are disposed of in a controlled detonation.Security footage from the area appeared to show a woman, possibly homeless, leave the box behind. Investigators do not believe that the victim was specifically targeted or that the devices were left behind with "malicious intent."Authorities also added that there...

Multi-Talented Worldwide Hero Takes On Most Challenging Role Ever To Climb Mt. Everest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:21 GMT

Renowned counterterrorism expert and former intelligence operative from Multi Operational Security Agency Intelligence Company (MOSAIC,) Tony Schiena, is taking fans on the most exciting, challenging and daring adventure he has ever encountered as he climbs Mt. Everest.Tony has already started his ascent alongside world record holder Kami Rita Sherpa and Ukrainian Climber Antonina Samoilova. Kami, who holds the record for climbing Mt. Everest 26 times and will now be attempting his 27th summit with Tony. Kami has a personal tie to the mountain as his father, Mingma Tshering Sherpa, was one of the first professional guides on Everest when Nepal opened up to international climbers in 1950.Tony who’s a former intelligence operative and CEO of MOSAIC (www.mosaicsec.com), is a US based defense intelligence company staffed with former senior CIA, NSA, DIA and FBI agents. MOSAIC was active in the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Tony has a long history operating in the easte...

Letters: Painful conversion | Change leadership | Pharmacy benefit managers | Mason accountability | Moralist posturing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:21 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Conversion to electricwill be too painfulFor anyone who lost power in the winter storms of 2023, it was a cold week or two if you did not have a natural gas water heater, a gas stove, and a gas fireplace. A warm shower, warm meal and a warm room made all the difference.Between 2027 and 2030, unless the laws are changed, natural gas appliances will no longer be allowed in new construction in California. Only electric water heaters will be allowed as replacements when gas water heaters fail after 2026. In many homes, replacing a gas water heater with an electric one will require a new electric panel, which will be very expensive and in some cases impossible.The push to eliminate natural gas from residential construction in such a short period of time is a bad idea and will be a terrible burden, both comfort-wise and economically.Barry FernaldSaratogaState leadership mustchange to stop exodusEvery day we re...

Is Dianne Feinstein coming back? Democrats ‘panicking’ over her ongoing Senate absence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:21 GMT

Is she coming back?As weeks go by without word from California’s senior U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein on when she’ll be back in the saddle after missing months recovering from a bout of shingles, her fellow Democrats are growing increasingly anxious.It’s no longer just AOC, Santa Clara’s Rep. Ro Khanna and other congressional progressives sharpening their knives for the 30-year Senate veteran who at 89 is the chamber’s oldest sitting member and whose collegial, centrist leanings have long irked the Democratic left.With the Senate closely divided, Feinstein’s absence has put the Democrats’ agenda in limbo, and major newspapers have urged her to step down if she can’t return soon, including the New York Times on Friday. Leaders of the progressive grassroots group Indivisible urged her last week to “allow a new appointee to carry forth and extend your legacy.”On Sunday, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, who chairs the Judiciary Co...

Jury hears final arguments in writer E. Jean Carroll’s claims against Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:21 GMT

By Larry Neumeister | Associated PressNEW YORK — Donald Trump should be held accountable for sexually attacking an advice columnist in 1996 because even a former president is not above the law, a lawyer for the columnist told a jury Monday in closing arguments in the lawsuit that accuses Trump of rape.A lawyer for Trump responded by calling the accuser’s account “unbelievable” and “outrageous.”Once the final arguments were complete, the judge sent the jury home with instructions to return Tuesday to hear about an hour of instructions before beginning deliberations. Jurors will be asked to decide whether Trump committed battery and defamed writer E. Jean Carroll and whether damages should be awarded.In recapping Carroll’s case, attorney Roberta Kaplan showed jurors video clips of Trump from his October deposition and replayed the “Access Hollywood” video from 2005 in which Trump said into a hot mic that celebrities can grab women’...

Oakland rapper Philthy Rich pleads guilty to federal gun charge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:21 GMT

LAS VEGAS — Philthy Rich, the Oakland rapper who is also known as an anti-violence spokesman, has pleaded guilty to attempting to illegally buy guns in Nevada with the help of a straw purchaser, court records show.The famed rapper, whose real name is Phillip Beasley, pleaded guilty to making a false statement in acquisition of a firearm. His signed plea agreement admits the general allegations — that Beasley used co-defendant Jasmine Garcia to buy guns in her name and transfer them to him, knowing Beasley was listed as a “prohibited person” and unable to lawfully buy guns. Garcia has also pleaded guilty for her role.Though both have entered guilty pleas to the same scheme, the proposed sentences differ — prosecutors have agreed to give Garcia “time served,” meaning she won’t serve any jail time provided she doesn’t get caught breaking the law between now and her sentencing date. Beasley’s agreement, by contrast, says prosecutors will s...