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A Pomona man was arrested on Saturday after allegedly driving under the influence and crashing into another car, killing three women, police said.
Police arrested Victor Siharath late Saturday night after responding to a two-vehicle traffic collision around 11 p.m. at White Avenue and Phillips Boulevard in Pomona.
Everyone involved in the collision was “moderately to severely injured,” police said in a news release, and they were treated by Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel.
Two women died of their injuries at the scene, police said. Three others were taken to a nearby hospital, where another woman died.
A two-vehicle crash in Pomona on Saturday night killed three people. Police arrested Victor Siharath late Saturday night.
(OnScene.TV)
The victims’ names have not been released.
Police did not immediately respond to questions about the conditions of the injured passengers.
Officers identified Siharath as the sole occupant of an SUV. After determining that he was driving while impaired, police said, Siharath was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI.
The Pomona Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team is investigating the collision. Anyone with information is asked to call the department’s Traffic Services Bureau at (909) 620-2048.
A man was arrested after he allegedly tried to steal a Waymo car that had just dropped off a passenger in Los Angeles, according to police.
The attempted car theft happened Saturday night after a self-driving Jaguar sedan belonging to the Waymo company dropped off a passenger on Main Street near 1st Street. There, 33-year-old Vincent Maurice Jones got into the car and in the driver’s seat, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
Jones tried to put the car in “drive” but was unsuccessful.
A Waymo employee used the car’s communication system to order the suspect to exit the vehicle. After Jones refused to comply, the employee called LAPD.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted grand theft auto.
Rocky Kramer will be hosting “Women That Rock” on this week’s episode of Rocky Kramer’s Rock & Roll Tuesdays on Twitch. Tune into Twitch on Tuesday, March 6th, 2024 at 7 PM PT for this amazing show.
Rocky Kramer is a guitar virtuoso, often being compared to the greatest guitar players in the world. Rocky has performed on shows with some of the greatest musicians on the planet including Ozzy Osbourne, John Lodge, Steve Vai, Leland Sklar, Kenny Aronoff, Tommy James, Verdeen White, Ten Years After, BuckCherry, Rick Wakeman and more.
Rocky’s first studio album, “Firestorm” is now available worldwide through Allied Artists Music Group, together with an epic music video of his #1 Global DRT Chart topper single, “Rock Star”, that also picked up a Best Rock Performance nod at the 2019 Hollywood Music In Media Awards (“HMMA”).
Rocky Kramer recently returned to the studio to record his sophomore album “Alone In The Rain” which will be released later this year.
Rocky Kramer was recently cast in The Mutt Productions/ Allied Artists rock n’ roll time travel comedy adventure “Rockin’ In Time” where he will play the film’s lead character, Lars Olsen. The film is being directed by Aaron Lee Lopez (of the “Teenage Girl” franchise) and is being produced by multi-platinum and six-time Grammy Award winning musician turned motion picture producer, Kurt Wipfli.
Watch Rocky Kramer’s “Rock Star” Music Video here:
LOS ANGELES — For the foreseeable future, the Denver Nuggets will remain a problem that the Lakers have yet to find an answer for.
Because with Saturday’s 124-114 loss to the defending champions, in which LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score at least 40,000 career regular-season points, the Nuggets completed a 3-0 regular-season sweep and won their eighth straight over the Lakers, including the four-game sweep in last season’s Western Conference finals.
“They have our number,” James said. “We haven’t beat them in quite a while and it’s always kind of the fourth quarter in the last six minutes or the last few minutes of the game where they make plays. We don’t make plays and that can be frustrating.”
Many of those Lakers’ losses have come similarly, with the Nuggets out-executing the Lakers in the game’s deciding moments.
After having a fourth-quarter offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) of 120.4 against the Lakers in last season’s conference finals, the Nuggets will finish the regular season with a fourth-quarter offensive rating of 153.1 against the Lakers.
“In a sense,” Anthony Davis responded when asked whether it feels like the Lakers are trying to answer the same kinds of questions against the Nuggets. “Because they do the same thing. And they beat us with it every time. So yes, we’re getting closer as far as the first 42 minutes or you can even say 44 minutes, right? And then that last four minutes is just them getting to what they get to.
“And they make us pay on our mistakes. Granted, they made tough shots. But they get to it every time and you know it’s coming. But they’re a great execution team. And you make one mistake with Jamal Murray’s scoring and passing ability, and same with [Nikola] Jokic, and then you have shooters around, Aaron Gordon on the glass ducking into smalls. It’s like pick your poison. And they do a great job of making reads.”
If the Lakers and Nuggets played again this season, it would have to be in a playoff series. The Lakers (33-29) entered Sunday at No. 10 in the Western Conference, while the Nuggets (42-19) were No. 3.
“Not really,” Rui Hachimura responded when asked if the drought against the Nuggets has created any doubt for a potential playoff matchup. “We’re still missing a couple of guys. And we’re still trying to figure out. It takes time. I know we don’t have much time, but we just got to keep building that chemistry. We just got to figure it out.
“We got to make it to the playoffs first, [but] I think we’ll going to meet them again soon. We’e got to be ready for that.”
Even though there are no more Lakers-Nuggets matchups on the schedule, lessons from Saturday can still be applied to the Lakers’ upcoming games, with March providing challenges against some of the best teams in the league.
“Teams are watching film, and they’re gonna try to exploit the same thing,” Davis said. “We just gotta lock in defensively and try to figure out ways that we can be better on both ends of the floor, honestly. Not just the defensive end.
“But offensively, getting to a package where we can execute. The pick-and-roll with [Austin Reaves] and Bron, we’ve been getting to lately. Or this [D’Angelo Russell] and Bron [pick-and-roll]. Because a lot of teams, their big guys don’t want to leave my body, so now they’re walking to the rim for layups, especially in the fourth quarter.”
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (CNS) — A 27-year-old nurse was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a female patient at a Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Riverside where he worked, police said.
Jacob Daniel Hartman of Corona was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on sexual assault charges, including sexual battery of an unconscious person, according to Riverside Police Department spokesman Ryan J. Railsback. He was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Hartman has since been terminated from the hospital. Detectives presume there are additional victims have not come forward.
“As soon as we learned of this serious accusation, we immediately cooperated with law enforcement and started an internal investigation,” a statement from the hospital said.
Anyone with information on the assaults was urged to contact Detective Daniel Suarez at (951) 353-7120 or DSuarez@RiversideCA.gov. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous can email RPDTips@RiversideCA.gov.
A tornado touched down in Kings County Saturday afternoon — the second tornado in two days to hit Central California.
The tornado touched down in the south end of Corcoran around 4:37 p.m., said meteorologist Carlos Molina with the National Weather Service’s Hanford office. The tornado moved eastward and than dissipated by the time it got to U.S. Route 99, he said.
The tornado comes less than a day after a funnel cloud briefly touched down in the county of Madera, about 30 minutes north of Fresno. ABC7 reported the tornado touched down near an elementary school, forcing students to shelter in the cafeteria.
“This is the first time I’ve ever actually observed two tornadoes back to back,” said Molina, noting moisture in the area from a winter storm had brought ideal conditions for such an event.
“Usually, for Central California, we normally would get one, possibly two tornadoes across our area between March and April,” he said.
The back-to-back tornadoes come less than a month after two tornadoes touched down within a minute of each other along San Luis Obispo County’s coast.
Officials said at the time they were the first tornadoes to hit San Luis Obispo County since 2004 and the strongest since before 1950 with winds of 95 mph.
Elsewhere in the state, a blizzard pounded the Sierra Nevada on Saturday with gusts of up to 190 mph and almost 2 feet of snow in some places. A 75-mile stretch of Interstate 80 was shut down and ski resorts were force to close amid the dangerous conditions.
On Saturday, March 2, former Assistant City Manager Judie Wilke, who retired in 2023, announced her bid for a seat on the Burbank City Council. She is the second candidate to announce a run for one of the two available seats up for grabs.
Both Nick Schultz and Konstantine Anthony, who will be up for reelection in November, have not announced their plans yet. Anthony is running for Los Angeles County Supervisor, and Schultz is a candidate for the 44th Assembly District. If either one or both makes it to the runoff in November, state law will prevent them from running for their Council seat.
Wilke sent out the following press release announcing her candidacy on Saturday:
Judie Wilke
I’m thrilled to announce my candidacy for a seat on the Burbank City Council. This isn’t a decision I’ve made lightly; it’s the culmination of a lifelong journey filled with love and dedication to the place I’ve called home since I was three years old. My roots in Burbank run deep, from the hallways of Burbank High School to the corridors of Burbank City Hall where I dedicated 32 years of service. These experiences have done more than just shape me; they’ve reinforced my belief in the power of inclusivity, open conversation, and teamwork to bring about real benefits for us all.
Burbank is more than just a city. It’s a vibrant community that cherishes compassion, unity, and respect, celebrating our differences with grace and prioritizing the common good above all else. I’ve been lucky to witness countless moments of selflessness and solidarity here, from neighbors lending a helping hand in tough times to watching our young people grow into thoughtful, responsible adults.
Like any vibrant community, we’ve faced our share of disagreements. But it’s important to remember that having different viewpoints is a valuable part of life. What’s crucial is how we handle these differences. Let’s tackle our disagreements with kindness and let forgiveness lead us back to peace if we falter. After all, we’re more than just citizens; we’re part of a shared dream for the Burbank we love.
Now, perhaps more than ever, it’s essential that we keep caring, keep giving, and keep loving our city. Challenges we face today demand a renewed commitment to the common good, reminding us that our actions affect not just ourselves but our neighbors, our kids, and the generations that will follow.
With the experience I’ve gained and a deep understanding of our city’s unique challenges and opportunities, I’m ready to get to work. My objective is clear and full of passionate purpose: to make Burbank a better place for everyone. This mission is deeply personal to me. Growing up, I spent many evenings watching my father, Larry Stamper, lead as Mayor, instilling in me a deep-seated desire to follow in his footsteps and contribute to our city’s growth and success.I am filled with hope for our future, and I am confident with your support, we can build a Burbank that future generations will be proud to inherit. Let’s take this journey together, united by a common goal and unstoppable resolve, to make our beloved Burbank a beacon of community and progress. Thank you for your trust and I look forward to dedicating myself to serving our beloved hometown on the City Council.
I am an avid bicyclist who commuted to work daily for over ten years from my home in the Hillside neighborhood of Burbank to the bakery I owned in North Hollywood. While most of this route is covered by the Chandler Avenue bike path, there are several stretches that require riding on city streets. One evening, commuting along Burbank Boulevard, I was hit by a parked car that flung open its door and sent me flying into traffic. After recovering from two broken ribs and a punctured lung I began to look at how I could advocate for safer streets. I engaged with local elected officials and gathered letters of support from my neighbors to win appointment to the Burbank Transportation Commission, on which I have served since October 2022.
Serving as a Transportation Commissioner has been very engaging and rewarding, affording me the opportunity to review and advise on important initiatives, none more so than Metro’s BRT. This new rapid bus line with dedicated lanes will have an immediate positive impact on our streets and will be a catalyst for rebuilding an aging and dangerous piece of city infrastructure, the Olive Avenue Bridge.
Metro’s BRT plan will convert two traffic lanes, primarily along Olive Avenue, into dedicated bus, bicycle, and emergency vehicle lanes. This will result in a better transit experience, a new bicycle path on a street that lacks one, and potentially faster emergency response times for ambulance, fire, and police responders. All of this funded primarily by Los Angeles County.
The BRT will also enable Burbank to get funding to rebuild the Olive Avenue Bridge, an important piece of city infrastructure that is aging and dangerous. Built in 1958 the Olive Avenue Bridge (and its twin, the Magnolia Bridge), is seismically unsafe, has narrow sidewalks with low railings that pose a danger to pedestrians, and is poorly connected to the train station directly below the bridge. Over the past decade Burbank has unsuccessfully sought funding to rebuild this bridge. With a BRT Station, this bridge would become a multi modal transit hub connecting the BRT to Metrolink and making rebuilding the bridge eligible for State and Federal funding.
Converting two traffic lanes will have an impact on car travel on Olive. However this impact will not be gridlock. Estimates, based on similar transit projects, suggest that car trips will be slowed by less than 2 minutes. Two minutes of individual travel time in exchange for better transit and safer cycling, and the opportunity to build a new Olive Ave Bridge is win – win for Burbank and the region.
On March 26, the Burbank City Council will be voting on supporting the NoHo to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Corridor. If you live or work in Burbank and believe in better transit and safer streets, consider attending the City Council meeting either in person or online and sharing your opinion. Community input is important.
Lyudmila Navalnaya and Alla Abrosimova, the mother and mother-in-law of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, were among mourners who brought flowers to his grave in Moscow on Saturday, a day after thousands turned his funeral into one of the largest recent displays of dissent.
Police kept a heavy presence at the cemetery but the situation was calm, Russian independent TV channel Dozhd (Rain) reported.
“The police let those wishing to bid farewell to the politician pass through and do not rush anyone,” the outlet wrote on the Telegram messaging app, quoting one of its readers on the scene.
Dozhd also reported that “spontaneous memorials” to Navalny had been destroyed in several Russian cities. Flowers were removed in cities including St. Petersburg and Voronezh, it said.
Under a heavy police watch, thousands bid farewell Friday to Navalny after his still-unexplained death two weeks ago in an Arctic penal colony. The crowds who thronged to honor Navalny outside a church and cemetery in a snowy southeastern suburb of the capital chanted slogans for him and against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Police did not act against them, but at least 106 people were detained at events across Russia in Navalny’s memory, said OVD-Info, a rights group that tracks political arrests. It said most were stopped while trying to lay flowers at monuments dedicated to victims of Soviet repression.
Navalny was buried after a short Russian Orthodox ceremony, with vast crowds waiting outside the church and then streaming to the fresh grave with flowers.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia, was not seen at the funeral. She has vowed to continue his work, lovingly thanking him for “26 years of absolute happiness.”
The funeral followed a battle with authorities over the release of his body. His team said several Moscow churches refused to hold the funeral for the man who crusaded against official corruption and organized massive protests. Many Western leaders blamed the death on the Russian leader, an accusation the Kremlin angrily rejected.
A Norfolk Southern freight train derailed Saturday morning in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, spilling diesel and plastic pellets into the nearby river, according to local authorities.
No injuries were reported upon a preliminary assessment of the scene, according to police and fire rescue departments in the Lower Saucon Township where the derailment took place.
The Saturday incident comes just over a year after Norfolk Southern’s trains derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, 2023, releasing toxic chemicals into the surrounding water and air, and setting off a damaging fire. Days later, officials said the town had increased reports of headaches, nausea and other symptoms from residents.
The Pennsylvania derailment has not triggered the same contamination so far, according to preliminary assessments.
“There currently are no evacuations or hazardous material threat to the community,” the Lower Saucon Township Police Department said in a statement at 11 a.m. ET, hours after first responders were dispatched. “We request that everyone stay out of the area so first responders and Norfolk Southern personnel can continue to assess and work at the scene.”
Emergency responders deployed “containment booms,” barriers used to control the spread of oil, in the Lehigh River where there was a diesel fuel spill from one of the train cars, police said. One of the train cars also released a heap of polypropylene plastic pellets.
“Our crews and contractors will remain on-scene over the coming days to clean up, and we appreciate the public’s patience while they work as quickly, thoroughly, and as safely as possible,” the company said in a statement to CNBC. “We are always working to advance safety. We will investigate this incident to understand how it happened and prevent others like it.”
The company said it would vacuum out the diesel fuel in the river and clean up the plastic pellets. A nearby road will be temporarily closed in the meantime.
Norfolk Southern has been dealing with the aftermath of that East Palestine derailment for the past year. An activist investor group has recently pursued a proxy fight to oust CEO Alan Shaw, which has drawn the support of some politicians and regulators. The Environmental Protection Agency and White House officials demanded the company facilitate and pay for the cleanup and offer “unequivocal support” for East Palestine.
A year later, the community is still reeling from the Norfolk Southern train disaster, wary of the longer-term environmental impacts that the contamination could have set off. President Joe Biden visited East Palestine in February to express support for the community and urge stronger railway safety regulation.
RALEIGH, N.C. — The state is getting visits this weekend from major political players in the presidential race days before Super Tuesday.
Former President Donald Trump will be in Greensboro later today for a “Get Out the Vote” rally. He is speaking at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex at 2 p.m.
Republican candidate Nikki Haley will also be in Raleigh later today for a rally. She is speaking at Union Station at 12:30 p.m.
The former South Carolina governor is trailing behind Trump in the polls. But, she is vowing to stay in the race through Super Tuesday next week when North Carolina will host its primary election. .
Vice President Kamala Harris also made a trip to North Carolina.
On Friday, she was joined by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper at 12:40 p.m. on Durham’s historic Black Wall Street.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Durham on Friday to talk about the White House plan to invest millions in the economy.
This is her second trip to the state this year. In January, Harris visited a middle school in Charlotte and announced an additional $285 million in federal funding from the Safer Communities Act.
Saturday is the last day for early voting ahead of Tuesday’s election.
State regulators on Friday gave the green light for Waymo to expand into Los Angeles and San Mateo counties, clearing the way for the driverless taxi service to launch in the coming months.
Exactly when Waymo services will be available in Los Angeles is still to be determined, but the decision by the California Public Utilities Commission will open the streets of America’s second-largest city to a fleet of autonomous vehicles — even as self-driving cars continue to be the subject of safety concerns and some public criticism.
Waymo, formerly known as the Google self-driving car project, is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and already operates in parts of San Francisco.
The company is allowed to operate fully autonomous vehicles and carry public passengers as part of its testing and promotion, and has been testing its driverless white Jaguars in Los Angeles for more than a year. An invitation-only period rolled out in Los Angeles County last year, giving some a chance to experience the service firsthand.
“As always, we’ll take a careful and incremental approach to expansion by continuing to work closely with city officials, local communities and our partners to ensure we’re offering a service that’s safe, accessible and valuable to our riders,” Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina said in a statement.
But Waymo’s expansion has been met with some skepticism — and the vehicles have at times been targets of vandalism. Last month, a crowd burned an empty Waymo car in San Francisco’s Chinatown, though the motive for that attack was unclear.
Los Angeles officials have expressed concern over the deployment of the driverless vehicles, and some have backed legislation introduced by state Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San José) that would give local officials more power to regulate them.
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn called the CPUC’s approval “a dangerous decision.”
“These robotaxis are far too untested and Angelenos shouldn’t be Big Tech’s guinea pigs. Decisions like this one should be informed by cities, not made over city objections,” Hahn said in a statement.
Peter Finn — president of the Teamsters Joint Council 7, a union that represents freight and delivery truck drivers — said the commission’s decision comes less than a month after Waymo issued a recall because of a software issue. That recall was prompted by incidents in Phoenix in December, when two Waymo vehicles struck the same pickup truck minutes apart as it was being towed.
“The fact that this permit is being granted following such a fiasco raises a lot of questions about the due diligence conducted during this process and how forthcoming Waymo is with both regulators and the general public,” Finn said in statement.
Currently, local jurisdictions have no say in the commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles. The CPUC cleared the expansion of Waymo’s operations despite letters of opposition from officials in South San Francisco, San Mateo and Los Angeles counties, and multiple transportation agencies.
In a protest letter to the commission, the L.A. Department of Transportation argued that there needs to be standardization of disengagement protocols and more oversight over the automated vehicles before they are deployed.
“Any expansion by Waymo will set a precedent for these companies and those looking to enter the marketplace to deploy without any rules or safeguards in place that were promulgated without meaningful coordination with local jurisdictions,” the letter said.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass asked regulators in November to increase their scrutiny of autonomous vehicles and said the city should have a say in how they are regulated.
At the time, she pointed to one of the Waymo driverless cars operating in Los Angeles that had failed to initially stop for a traffic officer at Beaudry Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard on Aug. 3, 2023. The officer had been signaling east- and westbound traffic to come to a stop.
Groups submitting letters of support for the Waymo expansion included United Way Bay Area, the California Chamber of Commerce, the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California and Southern California Resource Services for Independent Living, among others.
Before the commission’s approval, San Mateo County Atty. John D. Nibbelin protested, saying the county didn’t have enough information on the expansion plans or enough engagement with Waymo.
“The ‘quick and simplified’ advice letter review process … is insufficient to develop the evidence necessary to fully understand the potential impacts and issues Waymo’s expansion into San Mateo County will create, including accounting for the differing needs and hurdles Waymo will face operating in San Mateo County,” Nibbelin’s letter to the commission stated.
High-elevation mountains in Southern California are likely to get several inches of snow as rain douses the rest of the region over the weekend.
A mild storm described by NBC4 Meteorologist David Biggar as bringing rain that will be “light with occasional moderate pockets mixed in” is aiming for the region. According to Biggar’s forecast, the timeline of the system is as follows:
7 a.m. Saturday — Rain in northern areas like Ojai and the high desert
10 a.m. Saturday – More widespread rain with it reaching Malibu, parts of the San Fernando Valley and possible snow in the San Gabriel Valley mountains and Big Bear
11 a.m. Saturday – Showers may reach metro Los Angeles, Pomona, Hemet and the South Bay
3 p.m. Saturday – Heavy cloud coverage in the afternoon but some areas may see pockets of sunshine. Rain will be more scattered and heading east.
6 p.m. – even less rain with continued cloud coverage
“As we go through the day for Saturday, we really will just be looking at some hit-or-miss light rainfall,” Biggar said.
This system isn’t expected to bring significant rainfall like SoCal experienced in February.
“We’re thinking most spots will pick up about a quarter of an inch to maybe an inch of rain on the upper end of things, but most spots will probably be about a quarter of an inch to half an inch of rain.”
SoCal Snow
The National Weather Service issued a couple of alerts due to wintry weather associated with the incoming story.
A winter storm warning has been issued for parts of the San Gabriel Valley mountains, Big Bear and Riverside County mountains while the Ventura County mountains are under a winter weather advisory.
Elevations above 6,500 feet may get 6 to 12 inches of snow and might experience gusts of up to 65 mph
“Maybe the Grapevine (during early Sunday) starting to get some snowfall, so we’ll be watching closely for early Sunday morning,” Biggar said. “But, the remainder of Sunday actually looks relatively dry.”
FBI agents swooped into the homes of two AB Capital executives in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach to find evidence of an alleged Ponzi scheme that cost investors tens of millions of dollars.
Armed with search warrants, the federal agents seized documents as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into Joshua Pukini and Ryan Young, co-owners of the Newport Beach-based real estate finance firm, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.
The FBI also searched AB Capital’s former Newport Beach headquarters at 15 Corporate Plaza Drive, investors say.
In a broadcast on KCal News, the FBI agents were seen hefting boxes and bags of evidence from one of the homes.
The raids lasted hours, with FBI agents first barking on a bullhorn to those inside the homes, said Brian Werlemman, a wealth manager who alleges he was fleeced out of $2.7 million in 2018 during an elaborate Ponzi scheme involving the company.
He claims around 100 others, many from Orange County, were duped into investing with the company.
“There was approximately upwards of $100 million involved,” Werlemman, who says he was the largest investor, told KCal News. “These are first and second trust deeds, where we started noticing bizarre things were happening — and money was missing, literally missing.”
Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles, confirmed the raids, saying they’re connected to an ongoing criminal investigation. She declined to provide further details.
Neither of AB Capital’s two principals could be reached for comment by the Daily News. Information wasn’t available on whether they face criminal charges.
Werlemman said he has cooperated with the FBI and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
The investigation follows an involuntary bankruptcy foisted upon AB Capital by disgruntled investors in 2022, he said. A civil lawsuit tied to the bankruptcy names Pukini and Young, alleging breach of fiduciary duty, conversion and other offenses.
It seeks $50 million or more in damages.
AB Capital is described in the suit as a real estate investment company that provides loans, then syndicates and sells fractional interest in those loans to investors.
“Prior to bankruptcy, debtor and its principals breached their fiduciary duties by looting and fraudulently transferring debtor’s assets, misappropriating debtor’s business opportunities, and defrauding creditors, the complaint says.
Werlemman, commenting on the alleged Ponzi scheme, said the defendants took real estate properties and liquidated them to return funds to investors.
“It looks like there are going to be cents on the dollar when everything is done,” he told the Daily News. “The civil suit is trying to unwind the tangled mess.”
The complaint alleges Pukin and Young refused to turn over AB Capital’s accounting records and destroyed documents, to the “shock and utter amazement” of a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee.
The trustee’s examination of AB Capital’s electronic and hard files on Oct. 7, 2022, revealed there were no files of any kind left on computers other than 80 files found in the computer’s “trash,” the complaint alleges. Additionally, large filing cabinets in a conference room at AB Capital’s headquarters were allegedly empty.
It is also alleged that Pukini lied about the disposition of AB Capital funds and misappropriated or fraudulently transferred proceeds, according to the Daily News.
AB Capital, founded in 2016, claims the firm makes “disciplined investments in targeted markets,” according to its website, with its founders having completed more than $1 billion in real estate deals.
The Joshua Tree property, which looks like a horizontal reflective skyscraper resting in the desert, was listed for $18 million last year — making it the most expensive house ever built in Joshua Tree, a bit over two hours east of Los Angeles.
Over 400 days later, according to its Zillow listing, and after many short-term rentals and plenty of interest from potential buyers — ranging from celebrities to billionaires to art collectors — there are still no takers.
While the 5,500-square-foot home, known as the Invisible House, has attracted a lot of known figures such as Alicia Keys and Demi Lovato, along with influencers and brands Hermés and BMW, finding a buyer has proven a challenge for Aaron Kirman and Matt Adamo of AKG Christie’s International, who represent the property owner.
The uniqueness of the home, the high price range for its remote location and a challenging 2023 market were all contributing factors, according to Adamo.
“It makes it much more difficult,” he said. “2023 one of the hardest markets that we faced, and the buyer pool for this is small, 3 percent of the buyers who are looking.”
Selling a property of this type doesn’t come easy even in a robust market like Joshua Tree, where the average home price is $450,000.
“Joshua Tree is a hot market despite the high interest rates, has really gained traction and scaled even over the last five years, especially during the pandemic,” said Tyler Neale, an agent at Sotheby’s International Realty who’s not associated with the listing. “It’s a popular place for Angelenos, and yet this property is an outlier from the norm in that market in every way.”
“Most spectacular” Airbnb
The character of the property has everything to do with the owner, the film producer and artist Chris Hanley, who along with his wife Roberta were drawn to Joshua Tree and purchased the land there.
The Hanleys were behind movies such as “American Psycho,” “Virgin Suicides” and “Spring Breakers.”
The concept for the Invisible House originated over a decade ago, when Chris Hanley came up with the design and approached Polish American architect Tomas Osinski to bring it to life. Its name describes how the house reflects the surrounding sky, rock and sand in a way that the structure seems to disappear into the landscape.
They began construction in 2013. The design is inspired by New York, where Hanley grew up “feeling comfortable with the monoliths.”
The home is located on a 90-acre property on the border with Joshua Tree National Park, making it the largest parcel of land that shares a border with the park. It was completed in March 2019.
It’s clear Hanley was involved in every inch of the home’s creation.
“It has 36-inch steel beams, maybe the biggest of any residential house in California,” he said proudly.
The house also has sustainability features, including a fully solarcool glass exterior with reflective light filtering and a solar thermal smart system for controlling the pool and hot water.
Once the couple built it, the plan was to live in it.
“We never thought in a million years that it was going to end up being some influencer house,” Hanley said.
As they had more guests come over, the house generated more and more interest from people they didn’t know.
“By the time Alicia Keys came in 2020, she wanted it for five weeks,” Hanley recalled. “So the house is kind of like one of these science fiction forms — it was no longer just Chris and Roberta Hanley’s residential dwelling, it had taken on a form in social media and media at large.”
Eventually it became one of the most desirable Airbnbs in the world, with CEO Brian Chesky calling it a “piece of modern art” and “one of the most spectacular homes in the world on all of Airbnb.”
After that, things really took off and the Hanleys started making rental income from brands including Hermés, BMW and others.
“The amount of income that comes, it’s better than most office buildings,” Adamo said. “You’re getting a potential 6 percent CAP rate.”
Joshua Tree was in fact one of the top two short-term rental markets in California and one of the top 25 in the U.S., according to AirDNA data cited by The New York Times.
Hanley said the house generates around $900,000 each year since 2021 in net income.
That may still not be enough for most buyers to justify the listing price.
“There is no Airbnb price or nightly rate that will make a property of $18 million cash flow that’s practical,” Neale said in reference to the rental revenue. “It’s a hard proposition even as a short-term rental at that price.”
“I don’t think it’s inflated, because it is a piece of art, but it is a hard proposition,” he noted.
“Pyramid in Egypt”
The decision to sell came when the Hanleys realized that the house was getting big and they were ready to move on to other projects.
“When I make a movie, it needs to get out, it needs to be experienced,” Hanley said. “And this was starting to get so experienced by so many people.“
While they have a property management company, they are not looking to become landlords long-term.
“We’re not in the hospitality business,” he said. “We’re creating new forms.”
They’re already on to the next project, which is the Starburst House located nearby in Joshua Tree.
Starburst House
Hanley has big ambitions for his properties and is not shy about it.
“It’s become this kind of social destination, very much like a pyramid in Egypt or something like that, where you just want to go to see this form,” he explained. “It somehow relates to the world at large, there’s some thought that there’s an interaction between extraterrestrial or other life forms or other forms of consciousness that are constantly taking place.”
Needless to say, not everyone can afford to stay at the Invisible House, but everyone can at least follow the Instagram account. It’s available for rent from $2,689 to $7,500 per night, according to property manager Fieldtrip Hospitality.
Demi Lovato was one guest who said she saw aliens there, as per The Wall Street Journal, and the buyer is likely to be someone who has an appreciation for metaphysical experiences, real or imaginary.
The agents trying to sell the property have their work cut out for them: They’ve had a hard time imagining the ideal buyer.
Speaking about potential buyers, Adamo was nostalgic for a minute about the crypto craze of 2021, when newly minted millionaires were quick to invest in real estate and would appreciate the artistic vision behind the property.
“We’ve had billionaires, investors from other countries and everything in between,” he said. “We’ve had brands and CEOs look at this for company retreats, art collectors.”
They had one proposal to build “something in the metaverse” and an idea of partial ownership, which didn’t work out.
Given the level of public and social media interest the house has generated, the buyer is unlikely to be a recluse or a hermit. There is a public performance aspect to the space.
Still, the image of the perfect buyer remains elusive.
“We haven’t figured out who the perfect buyer is for the property, because if we had it would be sold by now,” Adamo said.
In 1842, every resident of Copper Harbor, MI disappeared without a trace. In 2019, Bill Hitze and his son Brandon make a gruesome discovery while fishing on Lake Superior that starts to shed light on the old mystery. According to Professor Stephanie Crowe, an Ojibwa legend predicts that the town’s residents will be lost again.
Together, Bill and Stephanie strive to discover the truth about what happened so they can protect the small tourist town. But time runs out when brutal winter weather hits Copper Harbor and awakens the ancient horror. The legend claims the evil is indestructible. The warrior Vikings who’d set foot upon these lands hundreds of years ago scrawled their advice on a stone marker: flee. With escape cut off, the residents must hide or fight. And there is nowhere to hide.
Download your copy of “The Biting Cold” written by author Matthew Hellman and narrated by Marlin May on Audible here:
Burbank’s Maddison Kellogg was impressive against Canyon but lost 1-0. (Photo by Rick Assad)
By Rick Assad
With the exception of just a few batters in the first inning, Maddison Kellogg pitched a gem for the Burbank High softball team.
Instead, and because of back-to-back hits, her outing was spoiled 1-0 by Canyon in a nonleague game at McCambridge Park on Thursday afternoon.
After striking out senior Mia Reese, Kellogg, a junior, surrendered a single by senior Gabby Wensley to left field and a run-scoring double to left center by junior Jessica Carr, her counterpart in the circle.
Other than that, Kellogg was impressive as she went seven innings, struck out 16, surrendered six hits, walked one and hit three batters.
Kellogg had two perfect innings and they were the second that included two strikeouts and the fifth, in which she fanned all three batters.
Kellogg struck out two batters in the first frame, two in the third, two in the fourth, three in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Burbank (4-4) had four chances to tie the score against Canyon (3-3) and even take the lead including the bottom of the second inning when sophomore Kayla Orozco opened the frame with a single to left field.
Orozco stole second base and a pinch runner entered the contest and advanced to third base on a one-out-single to right field by junior Charley Barnett.
Senior Abbie Kimmer popped to second base for the second out and Kellogg did the same.
Two innings later, senior Kara Valencia reached base on an outfield error, took second base on a walk to Orozco and third base on a walk to Barnett.
The Bulldogs had their chances to score against the Cowboys including senior right fielder Kara Valencia. (Photo by Rick Assad)
Kimmer then popped to first base for the second out and Kellogg grounded to third base to end the frame.
“As far as the game goes, I think we could’ve won but just fell short when runners were on the bases, Valencia said. “I wish I was able to perform better to help my team more.”
Freshman Chloe Updike was safe on a Canyon miscue and went to second base on the same play in the fifth inning.
There were no outs and Carr seemed to be in real trouble as she had to navigate this situation without giving up a run or more.
Senior Belinda Lujano lined to left field for the initial out and senior Eliza Bowren grounded to shortstop.
When Valencia fanned looking, the best threat was vanquished.
Burbank’s final opportunity came in the next inning when Orozco lined a base hit to left field in the sixth and then took second base on junior Samantha Cafferty’s sacrifice bunt.
Barnett grounded out to second base for the second out and Kimmer was hit by the pitch. Kellogg bounced out to second base and the rally was pushed aside.
“It was a great game. Definitely wish the girls could have gotten hits when they mattered,” Burbank coach Melissa Sanchez said. “The girls were getting hits in different innings and just couldn’t seem to bring them together.”
Sanchez envisions her team getting better as the season progresses and was duly impressed by Kellogg.
“All of our games have been very close this season,” she said. “I am proud of Maddison. She pitches her heart out when she is in the circle and always gives our team a chance. I think once the girls get their sticks going at the same time, we will be a tough team to beat. We look forward to the challenges always.”
Carr was credited with the win as she toured seven frames, fanned five, allowed three hits, walked two and hit one hit batter.
Homebuilding permits across the Golden State fell last year, but not as fast as across the U.S.
California developers filed permits for 111,221 homes last year, 6 percent fewer than in 2022, the Orange County Register reported, citing figures from the National Association of Home Builders.
At the same time, builders in 49 states and the District of Columbia pulled 1.26 million permits, 11 percent fewer than the year before. Nine states had increases.
California ranked third among states for the number of permits filed last year.
Of those, 57,959 were for single-family houses, an 8 percent decline from 2022. Multifamily permits across the state totaled 53,262, a 3 percent decline; in the Inland Empire, however, multifamily permits shot up 89 percent.
California permits equaled 2.8 per 1,000 residents, the lowest ratio since 2020, according to the Register. It’s also above the average 2.2 permits per 1,000 residents pace since 2008.
The Great Recession changed how builders build: from 1990 to 2007, California permitting averaged 4 per 1,000 residents.
Across the nation, builders filed 851,268 single-family home permits, a 6 percent decline. Six states were up for the year. They filed 508,107 multifamily permits, down 19 percent, with 15 states reporting an increase in filings.
The overall decrease in permits was generally attributed to an uncertain economy, higher mortgage rates and fears that too many apartments were being built, according to the Register.
Within the Golden State, Northern California saw a 10 percent drop in building permits last year, compared to a 6 percent drop in Southern California.
In Los Angeles and Orange County, builders pulled 30,691 permits last year, 6 percent fewer than in 2022. Of those, 11,810 permits were for single-family homes, a 7 percent increase. Some 18,881 permits were for multifamily, a 13 percent decrease.
In the Inland Empire, builders pulled 19,710 permits, up 21 percent from 2022. Of those, 11,924 were for single-family homes, down 2 percent. Some 7,786 permits were for multifamily — an increase of 89 percent.
Tuesday’s primary results in Michigan exposed a major weakness for incumbent President Joe Biden in a key swing state that could adversely impact his chances come November. In the state’s GOP primary, former President Donald Trump projected a level of strength that underscores recent polling woes, showing him with a clear, albeit narrow, lead in the general election.
As of Thursday, President Biden had captured slightly more than 8-in-10 (81%) Michigan Democratic voters. The only issue for the president is that a non-candidate – the ‘uncommitted’ vote came in second, with 13% of the vote, or roughly 100,000 votes.
Put another way, Democratic primary voters in Michigan, a group who is generally deemed older, whiter, more politically-active, and further-left, are not committed to voting for their party’s leader – who also happens to be the sitting president – come November.
To put this in context, in 2012, then-President Barack Obama lost out on 11% of voters who chose ‘uncommitted’ on their ballot. The difference, however, is in the numbers. Where Obama’s ‘uncommitted’ vote totaled just 18,000, Biden’s is almost six times that.
The effort to boost the ‘uncommitted’ vote was driven by the organizing group Listen to Michigan. Backed by the anti-Israel Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib (MI), the group hopes their efforts will deter Biden’s support for Israel in the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7th attack and Israel’s response, which has seen nearly 75% of the Gaza Strip conquered by Israeli forces and, according to Hamas, 30,000 fatalities.
In preparation for what they knew would be a large protest vote, these groups hedged expectations, reporting their goal as 10,000 ‘uncommitted’ votes to Politico. However, it doesn’t take a genius to know this story would receive far more media attention if they were seen as blowing their own “expectations” out of the water.
But what do Michigan’s results really portend? Nate Cohn’s The Tilt succinctly analyzed the results as a risk the Democrats don’t want to take. The harsh truth is that the Arab American and Muslim vote only represents 3% of Michigan’s electorate. That being the case, there is a substantial amount of voters who don’t fall into that group that also voted ‘uncommitted’. This is where Biden finds himself facing an uphill challenge.
While turnout in Tuesday’s Democratic primary was low – just 763,000 voters turned out for Democrats compared to 1.1 million voters in the state’s Republican primary – Trump eclipsed Biden’s total by almost 140,000 votes. To put this in context, Biden only beat Trump by 154,188 votes in Michigan in 2020.
To make matters worse for Biden in terms of the general election, Trump is polling very well in virtually every Super Tuesday state. He’s winning states like Vermont where Independents may play a bigger role by almost 30-points, purple states like Massachusetts by 35-points, and deep red Republican strongholds by margins as high as 75-points.
Further, Biden’s approval rating remains dismally low. Not even 1-in-4 (39%) voters approve of the job he’s doing as president. Moreover, Biden is somehow seen as less favorable than the indicted former president 41% to 44%. This strongly suggests that Biden has a tougher road ahead than Trump to win November’s election.
Regardless of Tuesday’s results, Biden’s bottom line remains the same. He has to walk the tightrope of appeasing ‘uncommitted’ voters while not totally alienating supporters of Israel, which happen to be particularly prevalent in major swing states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona.
On the Republican side, Trump won slightly more than two-thirds (68%) of the vote, his strongest margin to date over Nikki Haley, who squeaked out barely one-quarter (27%) of the vote. While Haley’s survival to this point is impressive, having outlasted former-GOP darlings like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, she has virtually no conventional path to the GOP nomination and high-profile donors like the Koch’s have taken note, recently halting their donations.
Looking ahead, Trump is likely to continue dominating through Super Tuesday, and will almost certainly win the majority – if not all – of those states by double-digits, all but ending the GOP nominating process.
As NBC’s Steve Kornacki described, Haley’s base of support through the first couple of states has been almost entirely powered by Republicans casting their own protest votes against Trump. And while she has proven that Trump’s near-domination of the GOP is not yet fully complete, she has failed to make her own significant mark on the party.
If one thing is clear for Republicans after Michigan, it is that their primary contest is over. Haley is losing by larger and larger margins, even in states with open primaries where Independents can vote.
At this point, Haley could be forgiven for bowing out after Super Tuesday and setting her sights on 2028, when Trump will be prevented from running, either by his own age or, if he wins, the constitution.
Ultimately, while Haley proved that roughly one-third of the Republican Party wants to move on from Trump, that discovery is hardly the takeaway from Michigan. Instead, it is increasingly clear that Biden faces a not-inconsiderable obstacle within his own party, and will be running against a challenger who has complete domination over the other party.
Whether Biden can successfully appease his fractured party while also appealing to more moderate Independents remains to be seen, but the one thing that is now evident is that where Biden has an enthusiasm problem among his voters, Trump has an enthusiasm surplus, and with that in mind, it is evident that Donald Trump is the front-runner at this point. And, while Trump’s lead may be narrow, it is also undeniable.
Douglas Schoen is a longtime Democratic political consultant.
