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Ex Councilman Ridley-Thomas Sentenced Multiple Years In Bribery Case

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

Former Los Angeles County Supervisor and City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas was sentenced 42 months in prison for corruption charges.On March 30, Ridley-Thomas was found guilty of one charge of bribery, one conspiracy charge, a charge of honest services mail fraud and four counts of honest services wire fraud for a 2018 scheme involving former USC dean of social work Marylin Louise Flynn.“There is simply no justification for monetizing a public office,” District Judge Dale S. Fischer said at the Monday sentencing hearing.Ridley-Thomas, 68, served on the County Board of Supervisors at the time and the investigation found that he voted in favor of an amendment for a Telehealth contract with the Department of Mental Health at USC, in exchange for his son, Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, being hired at the USC School of Social Work.In September of 2022, Flynn, 84, pleaded guilty to funneling up to $100,000 of Ridley-Thomas campaign funds through the United Ways of Southern California organizat...

Stanford keeping starting QB a mystery heading into opener at Hawaii

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

Stanford coach Troy Taylor won’t announce the starting quarterback before the Cardinal play its season opener Friday night at Hawaii.Junior Ari Patu and sophomores Ashton Daniels and Justin Lamson have been competing to replace Tanner McKee, last year’s starter who was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the NFL Draft this spring.“Everyone will know right when the game starts,” Taylor said Monday.What Taylor will then learn, along with everyone else, is how that starter will do. Patu and Daniels have a combined 31 pass attempts in their collegiate careers, while Lamson redshirted in 2021 at Syracuse and then tore his ACL last spring before transferring to Stanford.“Our guys just don’t have a lot of experience, so how are they going to respond to game-like situations,” Taylor said. “Quarterbacks typically either get a lot better or they can get worse in a game. Quarterbacks are like tea bags. You don’t really know what you got until you put them in hot wate...

49ers alter warmups with Brock Purdy’s reps, Trey Lance’s absence

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Next week constitutes Week 1 of the regular season, so consider this Week 0, and Monday marked the 49ers’ final practice for many players before final roster cuts.It also brought a peculiar sight: Brock Purdy throwing on an apparent pitch count to help his elbow’s load maintenance, according to a team spokesman. Purdy did throw some, and he surely wouldn’t be cleared to even do that had his comeback hit a serious setback.Tight end George Kittle, who missed half of camp with a groin issue, was not seen, nor were kickers Jake Moody (quadriceps) and Zane Gonzalez (calf).Those kicker injuries prompted the 49ers to privately audition two candidates: Tristan Vizcaino and Taylor Russolino, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. Vizcaino kicked in the 49ers’ 2020 season finale (3-for-3 field goals) while Robbie Gould was on the COVID list; Gould is a free agent after kicking the past six seasons for the 49ers. Russolino last kicked...

Fall arts 2023: Must-see stage shows abound in challenging times

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

These are tough times for live theater. Drained by the pandemic and countless other financial challenges, many theater companies here and across the country are shutting down, while others such as TheatreWorks Silicon Valley are launching emergency fundraising campaigns to avoid doing the same.Despite all the unrest and uncertainty, theaters continue to produce a staggering variety of excellent work all over the Bay Area. Looking at the wealth of offerings scheduled for the months ahead serves as a timely reminder of how fortunate we are to live in such a culturally rich region, and also how much we could lose if this sobering trend continues.The Bay Area theater community is one of the most diverse and innovative in the nation, generating bold new work and bringing the best the country has to offer to local stages.What follows is the merest sampling of plays and musicals that we can’t wait to see. But there’s so much more must-see theater coming up that there wasn’t room here to li...

Concord tower real estate deal underscores office market frailty

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

CONCORD — A downtown Concord tower and adjacent parking garage have been bought in a real estate deal that underscores the frailty of the Bay Area office market.The office complex and garage, known as One Concord Center, were bought for roughly half of their prior sale price, which occurred in 2017, according to documents filed on Aug. 21 at the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office.The new owner, One Concord Towers, paid $40.5 million for the office complex, which is near the Concord BART station in the East Bay city’s downtown district, the county real estate records show.The buying entity is an LLC managed by real estate entrepreneurs Leonard Epstein and Phil Tagami, state business records show. Tagami is the chief executive officer and Epstein is the chief financial officer of California Capital & Investment Group, a real estate company.The $40.5 million purchasing amount includes a core price of $38.2 million plus an assumption by the buyer of roughly anot...

Afya: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

NOVA LIMA, Brazil (AP) — NOVA LIMA, Brazil (AP) — Afya Ltd. (AFYA) on Monday reported second-quarter net income of $16.7 million.The Nova Lima, Brazil-based company said it had net income of 19 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs and non-recurring costs, were 29 cents per share.The medical education company posted revenue of $144 million in the period.Afya shares have declined 6% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $14.66, a rise of 15% in the last 12 months._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AFYA at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AFYASource

Michigan woman pleads no contest in 2022 pond crash that led to drowning deaths of her 3 young sons

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan woman whose three young sons drowned last year after her SUV crashed into an ice-covered pond pleaded no contest Monday to several charges in connection with the crash.An Ottawa County judge accepted Leticia Gonzales’ no contest plea Monday to operating while intoxicated causing serious injury and three misdemeanor charges of moving violation causing death.The Holland-area woman is set to be sentenced on Sept. 25. Sentencing guidelines call for an incarceration ranging from seven months to two years.Ottawa County police said Gonzales was driving her sport utility vehicle in February 2022 when she veered off the left side of a road, jumped a curb and the SUV rolled into an ice-covered retention pond. Her sons, Jerome III, 4, Jeremiah, 3, and Josiah, 1, drowned while strapped into their child-restraint seats.Gonzales escaped with minor injuries. Police allege that she was impaired by two doses of methadone, a medication used to t...

SRAX: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (AP) — WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (AP) — SRAX, Inc. (SRAX) on Monday reported a loss of $23 million in its second quarter.On a per-share basis, the Westlake Village, California-based company said it had a loss of 88 cents.The company posted revenue of $7.7 million in the period._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SRAX at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SRAXSource

Man charged with cyberstalking ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend while posing as different ex

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

A Colorado man has been charged in federal court with cyberstalking his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend in Hawaii while repeatedly posing as a different ex-boyfriend, federal prosecutors said Monday. John B. Hart, 53, of Louisville, who previously lived in Hawaii, was arrested Friday in Colorado. Hart was temporarily represented by a lawyer from the federal defender’s office when he appeared in court after his arrest. The office has a policy of not commenting on cases to the media. No other attorney was listed as representing him yet.An indictment alleges that he told his ex-girlfriend to kill herself, created profiles for her on dating and casual sex websites, and sent two men looking to date or have sex with her to her workplace, among other things, to harass and intimidate her. Hart also told the new boyfriend, a resident of both Hawaii and Washington state, to break up with her and sent sex toys to the boyfriend’s relatives with the ex-girlfriend’s name on the or...

Man pleads guilty to threatening Gov. Polis, Adams County prosecutor

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:10 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A man accused of threatening to kill Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has pleaded guilty, according to the district attorney.Jeromie Rose also pleaded guilty to threatening an Adams County prosecutor, the 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office announced. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox The investigation includes two separate incidents. The first was in March when Rose left threatening voicemails on a line for the Adams County District Attorney's Office. Then, in June, he called Polis' office and left additional threatening voicemails.In the March 13 voice messages, Rose said, "If I ever see him again, I probably will beat the hell out of him, if not kill him," when referring to a prosecutor, the DA's Office said in a release.The June voicemails included more specific threats about shooting Polis related to Rose's loss of food stamps.Rose, 42, has pleaded guilty to two felony charges, retaliation against an elected official and retalia...