All posts tagged: California News

Rapper Tory Lanez Sues California Prison System for 0 Million Over Stabbing by Inmate

Rapper Tory Lanez Sues California Prison System for $100 Million Over Stabbing by Inmate

Published by Sam Flores

Lanez, 33, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, filed the federal lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages on Tuesday against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the warden and guards at the prison in Tehachapi where he was being held. The suit says he was stabbed 16 times in the back, torso, head and face in an “unprovoked life-threatening attack” by inmate Santino Casio, who used a homemade “shank.” Lanez had a collapsed lung and had to be airlifted to a hospital, it says. Prison officials say he was attacked May 12, 2025, by Casio, who is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder. Casio had another 2008 conviction for assault by a prisoner with a deadly weapon and another in 2018 for manufacturing a deadly weapon. “The choice to house Casio with Peterson was known or should have been a known danger,” the lawsuit says. It alleges that correctional officers’ response was slow, and no special measures like flash grenades or smoke bombs were used to stop Casio. …

What to Know About Singer D4vd’s Arrest in 14-Year-Old Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s Killing

What to Know About Singer D4vd’s Arrest in 14-Year-Old Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s Killing

Published by Sam Flores

Detectives arrested the 21-year-old, whose legal name is David Burke, on Thursday on suspicion of murder in the investigation of the killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, Los Angeles police said. Authorities had not publicly named Burke as a suspect previously. Investigators are expected to present a case to prosecutors on Monday, police said. Burke’s lawyers have declared his innocence. Here are a few things to know about the case: Singer was arrested, but is not currently charged Burke was arrested at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, police said, at a home near the Chateau Marmont, the legendary Hollywood hotel that has been home to decades of industry scandal and lore. It is about two miles from the upscale Hollywood Hills street where Burke’s Tesla and Rivas Hernandez’s body were found. He was booked into a jail in South Los Angeles with no bail several hours later. Prosecutors say on Monday when they receive the case they will review it to decide whether there is enough evidence for charges. Burke’s defense attorneys stressed that Burke has only …

an American Staple That Actually Began Life on … a Ranch

an American Staple That Actually Began Life on … a Ranch

Published by Sam Flores

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Ranch is the best-selling salad dressing in America, and it has been since it took the crown from Italian near the close of the 20th century. It’s still jazzing up iceberg and romaine. But ranch now competes with the likes of ketchup and other condiments, a creamy dip for everything from hot wings and fried pickles to — perhaps most controversially — pizza. It’s ubiquitous, a versatile staple of American foodways easily found in grocery stores, recipes and on menus. There are entire cookbooks and a restaurant dedicated to the flavor. Beloved and maligned, ranch also turns up in the country’s cultural intangibles. Writers have labeled it the “Great American Condiment,” and less flatteringly, “extravagant and trashy.” It carries a nostalgia, said Nick Higgins, an executive for Hidden Valley Ranch’s parent company, which taps into that sentimentalism and fosters the ranch fandom. The viral food fights their product inspires? They embrace those, too. “We love it,” he said. “It’s one of the things we can debate as people and it’s OK.” …

Roblox Gaming Platform Reaches Million Settlement With Nevada Enhancing Youth Protections

Roblox Gaming Platform Reaches $12 Million Settlement With Nevada Enhancing Youth Protections

Published by Sam Flores

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Roblox, a gaming platform popular with kids, will implement increased protections for young users and pay more than $12 million to the state of Nevada in what state Attorney General Aaron Ford on Wednesday called a first-of-its-kind agreement. “This settlement will create a safer environment for our children online, and I hope that it will serve as a bellwether for how online interactive platforms allow our state’s youth to use their products,” the Democratic attorney general said Wednesday. Roblox, which is used by nearly half U.S. children under 16, will give $10 million over three years to support programs like the Boys & Girls Club and other nondigital activities, Ford said. It will also fund a law enforcement liaison position to respond to safety concerns about the platform and fund an online safety awareness campaign, Ford said. The settlement, which was agreed upon in lieu of litigation, includes enhanced protections for minors who use the app, such as requiring age verification for all users and restricting nighttime notifications for minors. The …

LA Needs 100,000 Construction Workers. Community Colleges Are Racing to Train Them

LA Needs 100,000 Construction Workers. Community Colleges Are Racing to Train Them

Published by Sam Flores

Hudson Idov wasn’t excited about any of his college options — that is, until his Los Angeles house burned down in the Palisades Fire his senior year of high school. Less than a week after graduation, he and one of his classmates enrolled in the carpentry program at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, a community college just south of downtown. Their goal is to start a construction company one day and help rebuild the Palisades. “We have big, big 10-year plans,” he said during a break in his morning class. His personal tragedy drove the decision, but he also considers it wise to pursue a high-demand job, especially now. Before the Palisades and Eaton fires last year, Los Angeles was already short roughly 70,000 qualified construction workers. The destruction of thousands of homes and businesses during the fires made that problem even worse. The city now needs over 100,000 new workers in construction and construction-related careers, according to one state analysis, which estimates median pay at just under $30 an hour, though it varies depending on …

Era of Political Violence Means Higher Costs for Candidate Security, a New Report Says

Era of Political Violence Means Higher Costs for Candidate Security, a New Report Says

Published by Sam Flores

Security spending for congressional and presidential campaigns has jumped fivefold over the past decade as an increasingly hostile political environment has led to escalating threats against public officials, ranging from doxing to assassination plots, according to a report released Thursday. Federal political committees spent more than $40 million on expenses labeled as security during the 2023-24 campaign cycle, the most recent one for which data is publicly available, according to the report from the Public Service Alliance, a nonpartisan group that focuses on security for public officials. The report did not specify which candidates spent the most on security. The tally also did not count the escalating security costs of the federal government, which includes augmented Capitol Police services for members of Congress and heightened U.S. Secret Service protection for presidential candidates, as well as former and current presidents and their families. “This is not a good place to be as a country,” said Justin Sherman, the report’s author. The report calculated security costs by looking at publicly available filings with the Federal Election Commission …

Southern California Wildfire Mostly Contained as Officials Lift Many Evacuation Orders

Southern California Wildfire Mostly Contained as Officials Lift Many Evacuation Orders

Published by Sam Flores

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A smoky wildfire in southern California that broke out a day earlier and prompted evacuation orders was mostly under control Saturday afternoon, fire officials said. Encompassing roughly 6.3 square miles (about 16 square kilometers) in Riverside County, about 64 miles (103 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, the Springs Fire was no longer growing and at least 75% percent contained Saturday, said Terra Fernandez, public safety information specialist for the Riverside County Fire Department. It was 25% contained on Friday. Fire officials also lifted evacuation orders for a large swath of neighborhoods Saturday morning. Fernandez said she expected the rest will be lifted by the end of the day. “It’s pretty much under control,” Fernandez said. The fire was fueled by strong Santa Ana winds with gusts predicted to get up to 45 mph (72 kph) on Saturday. But winds had “dissipated a bit” since Friday, helping the efforts of fire crews, Fernandez said. Natural equestrian trails around the area also helped firefighters make access to the fire and build effective containment …

Lawsuit Says Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Pose Comes Too Close to the Work of a Real One

Lawsuit Says Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Pose Comes Too Close to the Work of a Real One

Published by Sam Flores

Maren Wade says in the trademark infringement lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in California that the glittery branding of Swift’s 2025 album comes too close to the aesthetic of her own “Confessions of a Showgirl.” That was the name of a column she wrote on backstage Sin City life in the Las Vegas Weekly starting in 2014, which she turned into a live show that she took on a national tour. “Both share the same structure, the same dominant phrase, and the same overall commercial impression,” the lawsuit says. “Both are used in overlapping markets and are directed at the same consumers.” Wade is described as a “singer, songwriter, comedian, and writer” in the lawsuit filed under her legal name, Maren Flagg, and her “Showgirl” brand encompasses performances, writing and digital media. “The Life of a Showgirl,” the stadium-packing superstar’s 12th studio album, released in October, sold 4 million copies in its first week. Its cover features her in Las Vegas cabaret garb, submerged in water with her current favorite color scheme of orange …

No More SBA Loans for Non-Citizens

No More SBA Loans for Non-Citizens

Published by Sam Flores

Green-card holders no longer qualify for loans from the Small Business Administration, eliminating a longtime source of financing for immigrants that advocates say will discourage job creation and harm the economy. The SBA limited access to its loans to U.S. citizens and nationals only starting in March, and expanded that policy to SBA-backed loans beginning in April. On top of that, any business that’s even partly owned by a permanent legal resident with a green card is no longer eligible for the loans. California — which has the most small businesses and the largest immigrant population in the nation — could be most affected. SBA loans have been important to immigrant entrepreneurs because they typically are low-interest and available to those without an established credit history. The agency has also backed loans by private funders, providing a government guarantee for people banks may deem riskier. Now, all those loans are off the table for owners and would-be owners of restaurants, bake shops, law practices, medical clinics, taxi medallions, nail salons and more who hold green …

Pennsylvania Court Upends Mandatory Use of Life-Without-Parole for Second-Degree Murder

Pennsylvania Court Upends Mandatory Use of Life-Without-Parole for Second-Degree Murder

Published by Sam Flores

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s high court on Thursday overturned the use of automatic life sentences without parole for people convicted of second-degree murder, saying it violates the state’s constitutional ban on cruel punishment when imposed without a closer look at the defendant’s specific role and culpability. The court majority ordered resentencing in the case of Derek Lee, convicted of a 2014 killing in Pittsburgh, but the decision also has implications for others among the roughly 1,000 other inmates currently serving similar second-degree murder sentences. The court’s order was put on hold for four months to give the state’s politically divided Legislature time to “consider appropriate remedial measures.” In a footnote, the justices said they were ruling on Lee’s sentence and not addressing “questions of retroactivity.” Prison reform groups hailed it as a landmark decision, while the Allegheny County district attorney’s office said it will follow the court’s order. Pennsylvania law has made people liable for second-degree murder if they participated in an eligible felony that led to death, and life without parole has been …