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World Series champion Astros get visit from Lil Wayne

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:41:55 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil Wayne visited the World Series champion Houston Astros Tuesday night before their game against the San Francisco Giants.The Louisiana-born rapper was in town for a show later Tuesday, but stopped by the ballpark to hang with the Astros before taking the stage.“It meant the world,” Lil Wayne said. “They showed me way too much love and it seemed like they’re a pretty big fan and I’m a fan as well so it was all good.”Houston third baseman Alex Bregman is a lifelong fan who has long listened to Lil Wayne’s music before games.“It’s incredible to hang with, one of the best, if not the best to ever do it in his industry,” Bregman told The Associated Press after the Giants beat the Astros 2-0. “He’s inspired so many of us through his music and then just to get to meet him and see how down-to-Earth he is really was very motivating.”Lil Wayne was thrilled to meet Astros manager Dusty Baker and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. Mr. October...

Downtown restaurant owner brought to tears during plea to council

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:41:55 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- A downtown restaurant owner broke down into tears during an emotional plea to Denver City Council Monday night. Don Hines, the owner of Yazoo BBQ Company, is calling on city leaders to take action after he said crime in the area is taking a toll on his business.“Something needs to be done and nothing has been done for three years,” Hines said.Crime and vandalism in Downtown DenverHines opened Yazoo BBQ more than a decade ago with no previous restaurant experience. “When I first opened, I’d call him [Hines’ Father] every day,” Hines said. Hines said his father passed away about two months after opening up the restaurant, bringing him to tears while addressing the Denver City Council. "On his death bed I said, ‘Dad, I’m not going to fail,' and he died two days later,'" Hines said.  Extra paid sick time for COVID-19 to end soon Hines said Yelp recently ranked them the number one BBQ spot in Colorado, but with rising costs and all the crime in...

'I didn't think I'd ever be homeless': San Diego shelter bridges seniors to affordable, permanent housing

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:41:55 GMT

SAN DIEGO - A pilot program funded by the City of San Diego is helping homeless seniors in San Diego County. A property downtown is now housing dozens of people who were forced onto the street. Some of them were already retired and now are looking for help. One of those seniors is Annette Thomas. She choked back tears Tuesday clutching her new roommate, her dog Midnight, extra tight. “I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I am homeless. I didn't think I'd ever be homeless. I used to help the homeless, me and my husband," Thomas said. After the death of her husband who served as a pilot in the Airforce, she's lived off a fixed income and bounced from street to shelter for the past eight years. “When I lost him, I lost everything….I couldn’t afford nothing," Thomas shared as tears welled in her eyes. Thomas is just one of 41 residents brought to the property by a city case manager who now reside in not your typical city funded shelter lined with rows of bed next to bed. It's rather a ...

US defense contractors want deeper cooperation with Taiwan

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:41:55 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A delegation of United States defense contractors and a former senior leader of the U.S. Marine Corps pledged the beginning of deeper cooperation with Taiwan on Wednesday.Taiwan has faced increasing pressure from China in the years since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president. China, which claims the island as its territory, has poached Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and sent military planes and ships toward the island on a near-daily basis. It also held large-scale drills modeling a blockade and simulated strikes on important targets on the island twice within the past year.Speaking at a public forum in Taiwan’s capital Taipei, retired Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder said the U.S. wants to be part of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and improve the supply chain resilience of the island. He also emphasized how critical the island’s position is for security. “For the Asia-Pacific, I would offer there’s not another more important area in the world to maintain peace,...

Writers strike looks to be a long fight, as Hollywood braces

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:41:55 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood writers picketing to preserve pay and job security outside major studios and streamers braced for a long fight at the outbreak of a strike that immediately forced late-night shows into hiatus, put other productions on pause and had the entire industry slowing its roll. The first Hollywood strike in 15 years commenced Tuesday as the 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America stopped working when their contract expired. The union is seeking higher minimum pay, more writers per show and less exclusivity on single projects, among other demands — all conditions it says have been diminished in the content boom of the streaming era. “Everything’s changed, but the money has changed in the wrong direction,” said Kelly Galuska, 39, a writer for “ The Bear ” on FX and “Big Mouth” on Netflix, who picketed at Fox Studios in Los Angeles with her 3-week-old daughter. “It’s a turning point in the industry right now. And if we don’t get back to even...

Washington state to decriminalize drugs unless lawmakers act

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:41:55 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is calling lawmakers back to work after they rejected a bill setting out a new statewide drug policy — a development that has put the state on the brink of decriminalizing possession of fentanyl and other drugs while also depriving it of much-needed investments in public health.Lawmakers adjourned their regular session late last month after voting down a bill that would keep drug possession illegal and boost services for people struggling with addiction. Many liberal Democrats objected to criminalizing drugs, while conservative Democrats and Republicans insisted they must be to provide incentive for people to enter treatment.Inslee has called that unacceptable, and on Tuesday he set a special legislative session beginning May 16 to give them another chance.“Cities and counties are eager to see a statewide policy that balances accountability and treatment, and I believe we can produce a bipartisan bill that does just that,” Inslee said....

Video shows woman nearly attacked at Subway sandwich in Culver City

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:41:55 GMT

Surveillance cameras captured the frightening moments a woman was being harassed and threatened by an apparent homeless man who followed her into a Subway sandwich shop, where store employees watched the incident unfold without attempting to help her.  The incident occurred in mid-March, at around 3 p.m., at a Subway sandwich location in Culver City.  A nurse from Long Beach, Halima Othman, said she first spotted the man outside the store on Sepulveda Boulevard, near Venice Boulevard, about a block away from a homeless encampment under the freeway overpass.  “This man says some things to me and then he starts talking about a hitman, I owe him money, he called me Carol or something, and I was like, ‘This man is deranged,’” Othman told KTLA.  When she went into the Subway to order food, she noticed that the man had followed her inside the store.  “So, I’m backing up into a corner and I'm like, ‘What do you want from me? I don’t have anything for you.’ He’s calling ...

Teen killed in South Los Angeles shooting, family seeks justice

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:41:55 GMT

A grieving family is pleading for justice after a 19-year-old girl was shot and killed in South Los Angeles while heading home from work.Loved ones of Jazmin Green said she was an innocent victim caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting on April 24.Green was parking her car on the 10400 block of South San Pedro Street when a vehicle pulled up and shots were fired at her. She was transported to the hospital where she later died.Her family is devastated and is asking the city to put up reward money to track down the suspects responsible for the girl's death. A press conference was held on Tuesday where loved ones are pleading for anyone with information to speak up and help bring justice."She loved helping people,” said Green’s mother. “That's what she loved doing."Jazmin Green in a family photo.Jazmin Green in a family photo.Loved ones honor 19-year-old Jazmin Green at Southside Bethel Baptist Church in South Los Angeles on May 2, 2023. (KTLA)Loved ones honor 19-year-old Jazmin Gre...

Athletics pull Mason Miller with a no-hitter, lose 2-1 to Mariners

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:41:55 GMT

OAKLAND — Manager Mark Kotsay bypassed going for a moment of glory on behalf of rookie starter Mason Miller Tuesday night and the result was predictable agony.Miller, 24, was lifted after a 1-2-3 seventh inning with a 1-0 lead against the Seattle Mariners. He had thrown 100 pitches with six strikeouts and four walks. Left-hander Richard Lovelady and right-hander Jeurys Familia couldn’t hold it, however, and the A’s fell 2-1 before a crowd of 2,583, the smallest of the season.There would be no two-game win streak for the first time this season.There would be no win for an A’s starting pitcher for the first time this season.Instead, the A’s fell to 6-24, with Seattle improving to 13-16 and getting a stellar performance from their own rookie Miller. Bryce Miller, making his major league debut, gave up just two hits and one earned run in six innings with no walks and 10 strikeouts.As difficult as it was to take Mason Miller out of the game, Kotsay’s r...

Pardon frees more than 2,100 Myanmar political prisoners

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:41:55 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s ruling military council on Wednesday said it was releasing more than 2,100 political prisoners as a humanitarian gesture. Thousands more remain imprisoned on charges generally involving nonviolent protests or criticism of military rule, which began when the army seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.State-run MRTV television reported that the head of Myanmar’s military council, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, had pardoned 2,153 prisoners on the most important Buddhist holy day of the year, marking the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha.The releases began Wednesday, but may take a few days to be completed. The identities of those released were not immediately available, but would not include Suu Kyi, who is serving a prison term of 33 years on more than a dozen charges her supporters say were trumped up by the military.According to an official announcement on state media, all of the prisoners granted pardon on Wednes...