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Reports to Colorado’s Safe2Tell rebound to pre-pandemic levels as children seek help for mental health, bullying

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:38 GMT

Colorado students are seeking help from Safe2Tell — the state’s system for making anonymous reports about safety concerns — at levels not seen since before the pandemic, according to a new report released Monday.Safe2Tell saw report volumes drop during the height of COVID-19 as schools were shuttered and students moved to remote learning. But report volumes fully rebounded during the 2022-23 academic year and even slightly exceeded pre-pandemic levels — with concerns about suicide the leading reason why students contact Safe2Tell, according to the program’s annual report. The state logged 22,486 reports to Safe2Tell during the last school year, a 16% increase from the previous year and marginally higher than the 22,332 reports the program received in 2018-2019, the last full year before pandemic disruptions, according to the report released by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.CRISIS POINT: Teens increasingly turn to Safe2Tell for suicide, mental h...

Body found in trunk outside home leads to homicide investigation 

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:38 GMT

A call regarding a home disturbance in Huntington Beach led to authorities discovering a body in the trunk of a car. The original call came in late Monday afternoon from a home on Friml Lane, according to law enforcement officials.  Historic hangar at former air base in Orange County engulfed in flames Upon arriving and conducting a preliminary investigation, officers were able to locate the body in the back of a sedan parked nearby.A call regarding a home disturbance in Huntington Beach led to authorities discovering a body in the trunk of a car. (OnSceneTV)Police confirmed to KTLA that no obvious signs of trauma were found on the body, but it is being investigated as an “apparent homicide.” Details on the gruesome discovery remain limited. This is a developing story. Stay with KTLA for updates.

Woman run over during child custody dispute speaks out

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:38 GMT

A woman who was intentionally run over with a U-Haul pickup truck during a child custody dispute in Los Angeles earlier this year -a chaotic scene that was captured on officer’s dash-cam and body worn cameras- is speaking out about the violent ordeal.  The assault occurred on Oct. 1 after Harbor Division officers responded to calls of the dispute in the parking lot of a Target store at Gaffey Street and Capitol Drive in San Pedro, according to a LAPD news release.  The victim, April Barnes, who was helping a friend that is the foster parent of a 5-year-old boy, told KTLA’s Omar Lewis that she’s spent the last month trying to make sense of the whole thing. “I just don’t get it. I’m doing my best, but I just don’t get it,” she said. “I’ve been in disbelief that I was actually ran over.”  When she and her friend, who is the foster parent to the boy's cousin, arrived to pick him up, the 5-year-old's mother, 39-year-old Miesha Scott, refused to return him after a visi...

Wearing light clothing, reflective bands at night can prevent tragedies for pedestrians, bicyclists: Roadshow

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:38 GMT

Q: Please remind all pedestrians and bicyclists to wear white at night! We can’t see you!My cousin’s 16-year-old grand niece was hit by a car in Oregon wearing only black at night. She barely survived, and is now in a vegetative state. So sad! It’s no fault of the driver, who was found not to be liable. It’s costing the family millions for hospitalizations and home care.Marcia Citta, SaratogaA: I’m so sorry. Thank you for sharing a powerful story that could save others from tragedy.Q: In your tips for trick-or-treaters column, you missed the most important one: please wear reflective vests or bands. They’re dirt cheap and make pedestrians visible at night.There is no better way to keep pedestrians, big and small, safe.Malcolm HoarA: Important advice for pedestrians and bicyclists, too, at night.Q: Your column title Sunday about “Legal Moves on the Road” and your “yes” response to the reader who described a car using a bike ...

Former rug merchant convicted of sexually assaulting 2 women in his California store

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:38 GMT

A former Laguna Beach rug merchant was convicted Monday, Nov. 6, of sexually assaulting two women in his store more than a decade ago.An Orange County Superior Court jury found Saeid Maralan guilty of felony counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object related to both women, as well as felony counts of forcible rape and attempted forcible oral copulation related to one of the women.The sexual assaults — which involved women who were trying to do business with Maralan at Sirous and Sons Rug Gallery — both took place in 2010.Maralan was previously accused of sexually assaulting 11 women, but the case was pared back in the years between his arrest and the jury trial. Maralan — who ran a rug store in San Clemente — faces up to 15 years to life in prison.After being free on bail with a GPS monitoring device during the trial, Maralan, now 65, was taken into custody immediately following the verdict.Maralan denied that any sexual assaults took place.He told the judge he wanted to immed...

Are Vallejo officers using force more often than they used to?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:38 GMT

The Vallejo Police Department has spent the past several years working to ensure its officers resort to using force only when strictly necessary.But the agency’s new data tracking system – which aims to capture more thorough information on use-of-force arrests – makes it impossible to tell whether this effort has been successful.Police data released last month appears to show a massive increase in Vallejo officers using weapons like batons, Tasers and projectile launchers to arrest people.Reported use-of-force incidents soared from 38 in all of 2022 to 198 as of the end of September – a more than fivefold increase. Reported control holds skyrocketed from two in 2022 to 92 in the first nine months of 2023. The number of takedowns that police reported likewise jumped from 16 to 91.The numbers appear to fly in the face of the California Department of Justice’s attempts to curb excessive force in a police department infamous for its strained and sometimes violent relationship with its c...

NFC playoff picture: 49ers leap up standings while resting up on bye week

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:38 GMT

The bye week was kind to the 49ers aside from getting the chance to rest up following a “slow and tired” performance against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8.At something approximating midseason (in a 17-game schedule), the 49ers moved back atop the NFC West when the Seattle Seahawks (5-3) were rolled by the Baltimore Ravens to a shocking degree.They play the Seahawks head-to-head over a three-week span beginning with a Thanksgiving game. The 49ers visit AFC No. 3 seed Jacksonville (6-2) and then get Tampa Bay at home before heading to the Great Northwest.And while Philadelphia (8-1) may look on the surface to be cruising to the NFC top seed and being home for the playoffs again, the Eagles haven’t exactly looked like world-beaters of late. They have a bye week, then are at Kansas City and then host Buffalo in consecutive weeks before their showdown against the 49ers on Dec. 3.Let’s assume for a moment the 49ers look something closer to the team they were at ...

Skelton: Californians loathe both the Democratic and Republican parties

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:38 GMT

 For lots of Californians — Democrats and Republicans alike — it’s a pox on both parties. And they’d like to see a new third party created.There have always been people who were sour on both parties and desired another significant option. But their numbers have been substantially increasing in recent years.And as we approach the 2024 presidential election, one question is whether this growing segment of turned-off voters will even cast ballots, or just snub the contest.Start with the fact that national polling by practically every survey organization has shown broad dissatisfaction with the prospective choices of the aging President Biden and multi-indicted-and-also-aging former President Trump.Third party soughtPolling by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that one-third of Californians have an unfavorable impression of both parties, including their own.And 71% feel that the Republican and Democratic parties are doing “suc...

Bank deposit delays: Some customers still haven’t been paid

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:38 GMT

New York (CNN) — Some customers still haven’t received their direct deposit paychecks following a “human error” last week deep in the plumbing of America’s banking system.The deposit delays are linked to a problem that emerged on Friday with the Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments system, causing headaches for consumers and employers.Banks stressed to customers that all funds are secure. Payments that did not go through late last week had to be resent, a process that can take time.It’s not clear how widespread the impact continues to be or how long it will take for all customers to receive their deposits.An industry source confirmed to CNN on Monday that it’s likely some customers haven’t received their deposits yet. The source stressed that banks are at the mercy of the originating bank to resend payment files.Federal regulators are watching closely. In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the agency is “aware of the issue and mon...

Jewish man dies after altercation during competing pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests in Southern Califoria

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:38 GMT

A Jewish man died Monday after falling and striking his head during a confrontation over the weekend between competing pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Thousand Oaks, authorities said.At about 3:20 p.m. Sunday, deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department responded to reports of a battery at the intersection of Westlake Boulevard and Thousand Oaks Boulevard, where both demonstrations were being held, authorities said.The victim, identified as Paul Kessler, 69, from Thousand Oaks, was found suffering from a head injury. He had fallen backward and struck his head on the ground during a physical altercation with one or more counter-protesters, according to authorities and witness accounts.The Ventura County Medical Examiner has ruled the man’s death as a homicide, with the cause of death being a blunt-force head injury.“Witness accounts indicated that Kessler was involved in a physical altercation with counter-protester(s). During the altercation, Kessler fell b...