At least seven of eight people killed when two boats capsized in shallow but turbulent surf off the San Diego coast were Mexican migrants, Mexican officials said Monday.
Preliminary identification was based on records found with people’s bodies when they were recovered, the Mexican consulate in San Diego said in a news release. The nationality of the eighth person was unknown.
The consulate didn’t provide ages, genders or other information about the people killed in one of the deadliest maritime migrant smuggling operations off U.S. waters. Rescue authorities have said all were adults.
A Spanish-speaking woman who called 911 said she was among eight people on a vessel that reached shore and that 15 people were on another boat that overturned. Authorities found two capsized boats in shallow water amid thick fog late Saturday.
The Coast Guard suspended its search for remains on Sunday. Survivors may have escaped on land, including the woman who called 911. Authorities did not know her whereabouts.
Surfers pass an overturned boat sitting on Blacks Beach, Sunday, March 12, 2023, in San Diego.
Gregory Bull / AP
Multiple agencies, including the San Diego Fire Department Lifeguards, Customs Border Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard all responded to the scene initially, but rescue officials had difficulty accessing the beach because of the high tide. They were forced to continue on foot wading through “knee to waist deep water,” according to fire officials.
“After a couple hundred yards, lifeguards on the beach reached dry sand and then began to find lifeless bodies and two overturned pangas spread over an area of about 400 yards,” fire officials said Sunday.
The Border Patrol reports hundreds of known smuggling attempts each year on the California coast. Carlos González Gutiérrez, Mexico’s consul general in San Diego, on Monday warned against the perilous trip.
“People planning to cross the border into the United States, either by land or sea, should know that human smugglers will take advantage of their need in order to obtain illicit money, distorting reality, creating false expectations, and exposing them to high-risk conditions where they may lose their lives,” he said.
President Biden and the leaders of two close U.S. allies formally announced Monday that Australia will purchase nuclear-powered attack submarines from the U.S. to modernize its fleet amid growing concern about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Mr. Biden flew to San Diego for talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on an 18-month-old nuclear partnership given the acronym AUKUS. The three leaders delivered remarks from Naval Base Point Loma at the entry of San Diego Bay, flanked by U.S. sailors with the USS Sterett destroyer in the background.
“Today, as we stand at an inflection point in history, where the where the hard work of advancing deterrence and promoting stability is going to affect the prospect of peace for decades to come, the United States can ask for no better partner in the Indo-Pacific, where so much of our shared future will be written,” Mr. Biden said.
The partnership between the three nations, announced in 2021, enabled Australia to access nuclear-powered submarines, which are stealthier and more capable than conventionally powered vessels, as a counterweight to China’s military buildup.
Australia is buying up to five Virginia-class boats as part of AUKUS. A future generation of submarines will be built in the U.K. and in Australia with U.S. technology and support. The U.S. would also step up its port visits in Australia to provide the country with more familiarity with the nuclear-powered technology before it has such subs of its own.
President Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks after the AUKUS summit at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California, on March 13, 2023.
LEAH MILLIS / REUTERS
In a statement before their meeting, the leaders said their countries have worked for decades to sustain peace, stability and prosperity around the globe, including in the Indo-Pacific.
“We believe in a world that protects freedom and respects human rights, the rule of law, the independence of sovereign states, and the rules-based international order,” they said in the statement, released before their joint appearance.
“The steps we are announcing today will help us to advance these mutually beneficial objectives in the decades to come,” they said.
San Diego is Mr. Biden’s first stop on a three-day trip to California and Nevada. He will discuss gun violence prevention in the community of Monterey Park, California, and his plans to lower prescription drug costs in Las Vegas. The trip will include fundraising stops as he steps up his political activities before an expected announcement next month that he will seek reelection in 2024.
Mr. Biden was also set to meet individually with Albanese and Sunak, an opportunity to coordinate strategy on Russia’s war in Ukraine, the global economy and more.
The secretly brokered AUKUS deal included the Australian government’s cancellation of a $66 billion contract for a French-built fleet of conventional submarines, which sparked a diplomatic row within the Western alliance that took months to mend.
China has argued that the AUKUS deal violates the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It contends that the transfer of nuclear weapons materials from a nuclear-weapon state to a non-nuclear-weapon state is a “blatant” violation of the spirit of the pact. Australian officials have pushed back against the criticism, arguing that they are working to acquire nuclear-powered, not nuclear-armed, submarines.
Mr. Biden emphasized that the submarines “will not have any nuclear weapons of any kind on them,” and said the three leaders are “deeply committed to strengthening nuclear non-proliferation regime.”
“The question is really how does China choose to respond because Australia is not backing away from what it — what it sees to be doing in its own interests here,” said Charles Edel, a senior adviser and Australia chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I think that probably from Beijing’s perspective they’ve already counted out Australia as a wooable mid country. It seemed to have fully gone into the U.S. camp.”
Before he departed for California, Mr. Biden spoke about steps the administration is taking to safeguard depositors and protect against broader economic hardship after the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history.
The president said the nation’s financial systems are safe. He said he’d seek to hold accountable those responsible for the bank failures, called for better oversight and regulation of larger banks and promised that taxpayers would not pay the bill for any losses.
The president’s daughter Ashley Biden and granddaughter Natalie Biden also traveled with him to San Diego.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to meet Monday with two of America’s closest allies to announce that Australia will purchase nuclear-powered attack submarines from the U.S. to modernize its fleet as concerns grow about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Biden flew to San Diego for talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on an 18-month-old nuclear partnership given the acronym AUKUS.
The partnership, announced in 2021, enabled Australia to access nuclear-powered submarines, which are stealthier and more capable than conventionally powered vessels, as a counterweight to China’s military buildup.
San Diego is Biden’s first stop on a three-day trip to California and Nevada. He will discuss gun violence prevention in the community of Monterey Park, California, and his plans to lower prescription drug costs in Las Vegas. The trip will include fundraising stops as Biden steps up his political activities before an expected announcement next month that he will seek reelection in 2024.
Australia is buying up to five Virginia-class boats as part of AUKUS, said Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, who accompanied Biden to California. A future generation of submarines will be built in the U.K. and in Australia with U.S. technology and support.
The U.S. would also step up its port visits in Australia to provide the country with more familiarity with the nuclear-powered technology before it has such subs of its own.
Biden will also meet individually with Albanese and Sunak, an opportunity to coordinate strategy on Russia’s war in Ukraine, the global economy and more.
The secretly brokered AUKUS deal included the Australian government’s cancellation of a $66 billion contract for a French-built fleet of conventional submarines, which sparked a diplomatic row within the Western alliance that took months to mend.
China has argued that the AUKUS deal violates the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It contends that the transfer of nuclear weapons materials from a nuclear-weapon state to a non-nuclear-weapon state is a “blatant” violation of the spirit of the pact. Australian officials have pushed back against the criticism, arguing that it they are working to acquire nuclear-powered, not nuclear-armed, submarines.
“The question is really how does China choose to respond because Australia is not backing away from what it — what it sees to be doing in its own interests here,” said Charles Edel, a senior adviser and Australia chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I think that probably from Beijing’s perspective they’ve already counted out Australia as a wooable mid country. It seemed to have fully gone into the U.S. camp.”
Before he departed for California, Biden spoke about steps the administration is taking to safeguard depositors and protect against broader economic hardship after the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history.
Biden said the nation’s financial systems are safe. He said he’d seek to hold accountable those responsible for the bank failures, called for better oversight and regulation of larger banks and promised that taxpayers would not pay the bill for any losses.
The president’s daughter Ashley Biden and granddaughter Natalie Biden also traveled with him to San Diego.
At least eight people have died after a panga boat capsized near the shore of Black’s Beach in San Diego County, California, officials said.
Authorities responded to the scene Saturday around 11:30 p.m. local time after someone on a separate panga boat, a type of small fishing boat powered by an outboard motor, called 911 to report victims in the water, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
The first rescuers could not access the beach because of the high tide, and had to wade through “knee to waist deep water,” the release said.
Lifeguards initially only spotted seven bodies, but then found another with assistance from the US Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations, the department said.
The bodies were transferred to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office, according to the release.
Several agencies responded to the incident, including the fire-rescue department, the San Diego Police Department, US Customs and Border Protection and the US Coast Guard, the agency said.
Coast Guard and border protection officials are scheduled to hold a joint news conference about the incident on Sunday, officials said.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California panel on Wednesday denied parole for Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan, saying the 78-year-old prisoner still lacks insight into what caused him to shoot the senator and presidential candidate in 1968.
Sirhan’s lawyer Angela Berry disputed that, saying Sirhan has shown that awareness, and his psychiatrists have said for decades that he is unlikely to reoffend or be a danger to society.
Berry said she believes the new board members on Wednesday were influenced by Newsom and by the lawyers representing Kennedy’s widow and some of his children — several relatives of the slain politician are opposed to Sirhan’s release, though not all are.
In rejecting Sirhan’s freedom last year, the governor said the prisoner remains a threat to the public and hasn’t taken responsibility for a crime that changed American history.
“I do feel the board bent to the political whim of the governor,” Berry said after the hearing at a federal prison in San Diego County.
The parole board hearing comes nearly six months after Berry asked a Los Angeles County judge to reverse Newsom’s denial. The case is ongoing, and Berry said it was unclear how Wednesday’s denial by the board will affect it.
“They found him suitable for release last time and nothing has changed,” Berry said. “He’s continued to show great behavior.”
In a 3 1/2-minute message played during a news conference held by Berry in September, Sirhan said he feels remorse every day for his actions. It was the first time Sirhan’s voice had been heard publicly since a televised parole hearing in 2011, before California barred audio or visual recordings of such proceedings.
“To transform this weight into something positive, I have dedicated my life to self-improvement, the mentoring of others in prison on how to live a peaceful life that revolves around nonviolence,” he said. “By doing this, I ensure that no other person is victimized by my actions again and hopefully make an impact on others to follow.”
Sirhan shot Kennedy moments after the U.S. senator from New York claimed victory in California’s pivotal Democratic presidential primary in 1968. He wounded five others during the shooting at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Sirhan originally was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life when the California Supreme Court briefly outlawed capital punishment in 1972.
Sirhan’s younger brother, Munir Sirhan, has said his brother can live with him in Pasadena, California, if he is paroled. Sirhan Sirhan has waived his right to fight deportation to his native Jordan.
Berry filed a 53-page writ of habeas corpus asking the judge to rule that Newsom violated state law, which holds that inmates should be paroled unless they pose a current unreasonable public safety risk. Recent California laws also required the parole panel to consider that Sirhan committed the offense at a young age — 24 — and that he is now an older prisoner.
She is challenging the governor’s reversal as an “abuse of discretion,” a denial of Sirhan’s constitutional right to due process and as a violation of California law. She also alleges that Newsom misstated the facts in his decision.
Newsom’s office declined to comment.
Newsom overruled two parole commissioners who had found that Sirhan no longer was a risk. Among other factors, Newsom said the Christian Palestinian who immigrated from Jordan has failed to disclaim violence committed in his name, adding to the risk that he could incite political unrest.
The ruling split the Kennedy family, with RFK’s widow, Ethel Kennedy, and several of Kennedy’s nine surviving children opposing his parole.
Sirhan’s 17th parole hearing is slated to be held in three years.
We go from the market to the farm to find out why the cost of groceries remains high. And we visit San Diego to see how law enforcement is working to stop fentanyl from being smuggled into the country. Watch these stories and more on “Eye on America” with host Michelle Miller.
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A fire from the battery of an electrical device aboard a United Airlines flight forced a Newark-bound plane to return to San Diego on Tuesday and sent four people to the hospital, officials say.
The flight crew aboard United Flight 2664 prevented the fire from spreading further, and the plane returned to the airport, according to a tweet from the San Diego Fire Department.
Emergency personnel responded and are currently treating passengers, said San Diego International Airport (SAN) spokesperson Sabrina LoPiccolo in a phone interview with CNN.
FlightAware data shows that the aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, took off from the airport at 7:07 a.m. Pacific Time and landed back in San Diego at 7:51 a.m.
Fire crews evaluated all passengers and crew, and four people were taken to the hospital. Two others declined further treatment, according to another tweet from the San Diego Fire Department.
FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor told CNN the fire was from a laptop battery. “The FAA will investigate,” Gregor said.
Flight attendants who are credited with containing the fire are among those taken to the hospital, according to the airline.
“Our crew acted quickly to contain the device and medical personnel met the aircraft upon arrival at the gate,” said United Airlines spokesperson Charles Hobart in a statement to CNN. “Several flight attendants were taken to the hospital as a precaution, and two customers were evaluated onsite.”
“We thank our crew for their quick actions in prioritizing the safety of everyone on board the aircraft and we are making arrangements to get our customers to their destinations,” Hobart added.
Cohen Veterans network at VVSD “Joining Forces” with White House in Support of Military Families as the Network Fills the Gaps in Mental Health Services
SAN DIEGO, February 6, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– Cohens Veteran Network (CVN) at VVSD, a not-for-profit philanthropic organization that serves post-9/11 veterans, active duty service members and their families through a nationwide system of mental health clinics, welcomed First Lady Jill Biden at its Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at VVSD (Veterans Village of San Diego), Oceanside in Oceanside, CA on Feb. 4, 2023, as part of the White House’s Joining Forces initiative to support military and veteran families, caregivers and survivors. The initiative, which centers around bringing awareness to the experiences of military-connected families, highlighting the resources available to them, and driving policy improvements, includes a focus area of health and well-being. Since its inception in 2016, CVN has provided accessible, high-quality mental health services to 50,000 clients across its growing network of clinics.
“We are thrilled to host Dr. Biden as she remains resolute in her mission to support our nation’s military families,” says Cohen Veterans Network President and CEO Dr. Anthony Hassan. “We are grateful that she is bringing awareness to the experiences of military families to generate additional public support and that she is working to connect military families with the resources they greatly need and deserve.”
There are currently over 2 million uniformed U.S. service members and 2.6 million family members across the globe. Due to the distinctive circumstances associated with military life such as deployments and reintegration, long separations, and frequent moves, many military family members experience unique mental health concerns. In fact, while military families have proven to be incredibly resilient overall, it has been found that children from military families have a higher risk of social, emotional, and behavioral challenges including anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation in comparison to children who are not from military families.
Mental health was the topic of a roundtable discussion held today as part of Dr. Biden’s visit. She heard from military family members and veterans about their challenges, sacrifices, strength, and resilience, as well as their experiences in reaching out for help. Dr. Biden was additionally provided a tour of the Cohen Clinic, which was specifically designed with military families in mind.
The Cohen Clinic at VVSD (Veterans Village of San Diego), Oceanside is located a short distance from Camp Pendleton, which is one of the Department of Defense’s busiest installations. The area is home to nearly 40,000 active duty service members, 33,000 post-9/11 veterans and more than 31,000 military family members. All of whom are eligible for care that the Cohen Clinic in Oceanside provides.
“Due to shortages in on-base mental health providers, the Cohen Clinic at VVSD, Oceanside provides a viable alternative to timely and quality mental health care for our service members, veterans, and their families that is essential to personnel and unit readiness,” says Colonel Daniel M. Whitley, Assistant Chief of Staff G-7, Government & External Affairs, MCIWest-MCB Camp Pendleton.
“In a place like San Diego, CA, home to one of the largest populations of service members, veterans, and their families, VVSD recognizes the importance of initiatives like Joining Forces,” says Veterans Village of San Diego President and CEO Akilah Templeton. “Dr. Biden’s efforts towards raising awareness and encouraging collaboration in support of military families are inspiring.”
The Cohen Clinic at VVSD, Oceanside is one of 23 Cohen Clinics in high-need communities across the country. The network combines military culturally competent care with staff members trained to work with veterans and military families. Many clinic team members are military connected individuals with nearly 25% of Cohen Clinic staff being veterans and 21% being military spouses.
The network treats the entire military family including spouses, partners, children, parents, caregivers, survivors, and others. Approximately 47% of CVN clients are military or veteran family members, while nearly 53% of all clients are veterans or active duty service members. Treatment is available for a wide variety of mental health challenges including depression, anxiety, adjustment issues, anger, PTSD, grief and loss, family issues, transition challenges, relationship problems, and children’s behavioral problems. Care is available in person or via CVN Telehealth, face-to-face video therapy.
“We know that treatment works, and it is imperative that military families have access to culturally competent mental health services with their unique circumstances in mind. We heard it firsthand from our clients in the room today. So, when a military family member raises their hand for help, we must be there to support them. In an effort to save lives, save families and save futures, CVN remains committed to removing barriers to treatment and filling the gaps in care,” says Dr. Hassan.
ABOUT COHEN VETERANS NETWORK Cohen Veterans Network (CVN) is a 501(c)(3) national not-for-profit philanthropic organization for post-9/11 veterans, active-duty service members and their families. CVN focuses on improving mental health outcomes, operating a network of outpatient mental health clinics in high-need communities, in which trained clinicians deliver holistic evidence-based care to treat mental health conditions. https://www.cohenveteransnetwork.org
ABOUT VETERANS VILLAGE OF SAN DIEGO (VVSD) Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD) has served Veterans since 1981 and provides services to more than 3,000 Military Veterans each year throughout the county of San Diego, CA. www.vvsd.net
The Atlantic is publishing a collection of key internal government documents related to the Trump administration’s family-separation policy, known as Zero Tolerance. The records informed the reporting of my cover story on how it came to be and who was responsible. Our hope is to introduce greater transparency around a policy that gravely harmed thousands of families and whose development and intent were concealed from the public for years. During the Trump administration, more than 5,000 migrant children were taken from their parents as part of a dubious and ineffectual strategy to deter migration across the southern border. Hundreds remain separated today.
These records showcase, among other things, government officials’ attempts to mislead the public; inconsistent and sometimes nonexistent record keeping, which to this day means that a full accounting of separations does not exist; efforts to extend the length of time that children and parents were kept apart; and early and repeated internal warnings about the policy’s worst outcomes, which were ignored.
As you will see, some of the records are marked “pre-decisional,” “deliberative,” or “attorney-client privileged” in an attempt to exempt them from federal disclosure requirements and ensure they would never become public. The Atlantic obtained them only through extensive litigation.
The Atlantic’s records, combined with others secured by the House Judiciary Committee, the progressive nonprofit group American Oversight, and separated families themselves, have been organized and tagged for future use. The collection is far from complete, and many of the documents still contain redactions. However, we hope that this database will prove a useful tool for those engaged in research and documentation of family separations, and that the body of publicly available information will continue to grow.
In the spring of 2017, Jeff Self, the Border Patrol chief in the El Paso Sector, which includes New Mexico and parts of Texas, quietly launched a regional program to start referring migrant parents traveling with children for prosecution, which would require those families to be separated. This strained resources throughout the immigration system, including at the Department of Health and Human Services, which took custody of the children. Federal officials would later call the program a “pilot” and use it as a model for expanding the practice nationwide. Some early separations also occurred in Yuma, Arizona, under a separate initiative.
At a February 14, 2017, interagency meeting, immigration-enforcement officials presented a nationwide plan to separate families as an immigration deterrent. Afterward, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services—the agency that would be charged with caring for separated children—pushed back against the plan while scrambling to prepare. The plan was also leaked to the media, after which Homeland Security officials began to assert publicly that the idea had been abandoned. In reality, during and after regional separation programs were implemented in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, the nationwide plan was still being pushed aggressively by leaders of the immigrant-enforcement agencies, as well as by Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s chief immigration adviser, and Gene Hamilton, a confidant of Miller’s who worked at DHS and the Department of Justice.
Though a full accounting of the family separations that took place during the Trump administration does not exist, these internal government charts offer some insight into the nature of those that were recorded. For example, Homeland Security officials have often suggested that some of the individuals separated under Zero Tolerance were actually “false families,” or that separated parents were guilty of more serious crimes beyond the misdemeanor of illegally crossing the border, to justify taking their children away. But the first chart in this list makes clear that 2,146 of 2,256 separated parents who were referred for prosecution between May 5 and June 20, 2018, were charged only with the misdemeanor. During the same period, 137 parents were charged with the felony of having crossed the border illegally more than once, while only two were presented with “other charges.” The second chart notes that over those weeks, at least 251 children younger than 6 were separated from their parents, along with 1,370 children ages 6 to 12, and 1,272 ages 13 to 17.
Below is a small sampling of instances when government officials, members of congress, reporters and community groups sought information about a noticeable rise in family separations. Despite these inquiries, for more than a year, Department of Homeland Security officials denied that the agency’s treatment of families had changed, suggesting that business was proceeding as usual and that families were not being separated any more than in the past.
*The government supplied numerous copies of this directive with various portions redacted. The least redacted version has been excerpted here from the Border Patrol’s “After Action Report,” which summarized the results of the separations that occurred in the El Paso Sector in 2017.
Note: The government occasionally supplied The Atlantic with multiple versions of the same email chain or report, and redacted different portions of each. Such documents have been combined in order to show all unredacted material.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The founder of a California-based porn empire that coerced young women into filming adult videos has been arrested in Spain, three years after he fled while facing federal sex-trafficking charges, the FBI announced.
Michael James Pratt was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. Spanish National Police arrested him Wednesday in Madrid, the FBI’s San Diego field office said in a statement Thursday.
Pratt, a New Zealand native, will be held in Spain pending extradition to San Diego to face charges of sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor, production of child pornography and money laundering conspiracy.
Pratt, 40, founded the now-defunct GirlsDoPorn website in San Diego. In 2019, he and others were charged in San Diego with sex crimes after being targeted in a civil lawsuit by 22 women who claimed they were victimized by fraud and breach of contract.
The women said they were plied with alcohol and marijuana before being rushed through signing a contract, which they were not allowed to read. Some said they were sexually assaulted and held in hotel rooms unwillingly until adult filming had ended.
A judge found in favor of the women and handed down a $12.7 million judgment against Pratt, Matthew Isaac Wolfe and adult producer and performer Ruben Andre Garcia.
Wolfe, who handled day-to-day operations, finances, marketing and filming for the website, pleaded guilty this year to a single federal count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. He awaits sentencing.
The other co-defendants also pleaded guilty. Garcia was sentenced to 20 years in prison and cameraman Theodore Gyi received a four-year sentence.
Valorie Moser, a former bookkeeper for GirlsDoPorn, also pleaded guilty last year.
SAN DIEGO — The founder of a California-based porn empire that coerced young women into filming adult videos has been arrested in Spain, three years after he fled while facing federal sex-trafficking charges, the FBI announced.
Michael James Pratt was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. Spanish National Police arrested him Wednesday in Madrid, the FBI’s San Diego field office said in a statement Thursday.
Pratt, a New Zealand native, will be held in Spain pending extradition to San Diego to face charges of sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor, production of child pornography and money laundering conspiracy.
Pratt, 40, founded the now-defunct GirlsDoPorn website in San Diego. In 2019, he and others were charged in San Diego with sex crimes after being targeted in a civil lawsuit by 22 women who claimed they were victimized by fraud and breach of contract.
The women said they were plied with alcohol and marijuana before being rushed through signing a contract, which they were not allowed to read. Some said they were sexually assaulted and held in hotel rooms unwillingly until adult filming had ended.
A judge found in favor of the women and handed down a $12.7 million judgment against Pratt, Matthew Isaac Wolfe and adult producer and performer Ruben Andre Garcia.
Wolfe, who handled day-to-day operations, finances, marketing and filming for the website, pleaded guilty this year to a single federal count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. He awaits sentencing.
The other co-defendants also pleaded guilty. Garcia was sentenced to 20 years in prison and cameraman Theodore Gyi received a four-year sentence.
Valorie Moser, a former bookkeeper for GirlsDoPorn, also pleaded guilty last year.
NEW YORK — Trevor Bauer was reinstated Thursday by Major League Baseball’s independent arbitrator, allowing the pitcher to resume his career at the start of the 2023 season.
The 31-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers star was given an unprecedented two-season suspension without pay by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on April 29 for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy after a San Diego woman said Bauer beat and sexually abused her last year, an accusation the pitcher denied.
The players’ association filed a grievance on behalf of the former Cy Young Award winner, and a three-person panel headed by independent arbitrator Martin Scheinman started hearing the case on May 23.
Scheinman upheld a 194-game suspension rather than Manfred’s intended 324-game penalty but reinstated Bauer immediately, assigning 50 games to cover part of the lengthy time Bauer was put on administrative leave while MLB investigated during the 2021 season and early this year.
“Can’t wait to see y’all out at a stadium soon!” Bauer wrote on Twitter.
Bauer will lose more than $37 million in salary for the final 144 games of last season and for the first 50 games of next season, through May 23. The lost salary next year is effectively a clawback from part of his administrative leave, when he continued to receive pay.
MLB said Scheinman affirmed that Bauer violated the domestic violence policy.
“While we believe a longer suspension was warranted, MLB will abide by the neutral arbitrator’s decision, which upholds baseball’s longest-ever active player suspension for sexual assault or domestic violence,” MLB said in a statement. “We understand this process was difficult for the witnesses involved and we thank them for their participation.”
While Scheinman issued his award to the parties, a full written decision is not expected until later. The panel included MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem and union assistant general counsel Bob Lenaghan.
“While we are pleased that Mr. Bauer has been reinstated immediately, we disagree that any discipline should have been imposed,” Bauer’s representatives, Jon Fetterolf, Shawn Holley and Rachel Luba, said in a statement. “That said, Mr. Bauer looks forward to his return to the field, where his goal remains to help his team win a World Series.”
The players’ association declined comment on Scheinman’s decision.
Bauer was never charged with a crime. His accuser sought but was denied a restraining order against him, and Los Angeles prosecutors said in February there was insufficient evidence to prove the woman’s accusations beyond a reasonable doubt.
Bauer, who hasn’t played since the allegations surfaced and MLB began investigating, repeatedly has said that everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual.
An email sent after business hours Thursday seeking comment from the woman’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, wasn’t immediately returned.
Bauer sued his accuser in federal court, a move that came less than three months after prosecutors decided not to file criminal charges against the pitcher. Bauer named the woman and one of her attorneys, Niranjan Fred Thiagarajah, as defendants in the lawsuit. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault.
The lawsuit said that “the damage to Mr. Bauer has been extreme” after the woman alleged that he had choked her into unconsciousness, punched her repeatedly and had anal sex with her without her consent during two sexual encounters last year.
The pitcher has said the two engaged in rough sex at his Pasadena home at her suggestion and followed guidelines they agreed to in advance.
Another woman, from Columbus, Ohio, told The Washington Post that Bauer repeatedly choked her without her consent and sexually assaulted her over the course of a years-long relationship. Bauer, in a statement through his representatives, said their relationship was “casual and wholly consensual.”
The suspension will cost Bauer $37,594,233 from his $102 million, three-year contract: $28,131,868 of his $32 million salary in 2022 and $9,462,365 of his $32 million salary in 2023.
Under Major League Rule 2, Bauer will not count against the Dodgers’ player limits for 14 days, giving the team until Jan. 6 to decide whether to cut ties. If the Dodgers jettison Bauer, they would remain responsible for the roughly $22.6 million he is owed next season and he would be free to sign with any club.
“We have just been informed of the arbitrator’s ruling and will comment as soon as practical,” the Dodgers said in a statement.
The money not paid to Bauer will be reflected on the Dodgers’ luxury tax payroll, cutting the amount of tax they must pay this year and are projected to pay in 2023.
After winning his first Cy Young with the Cincinnati Reds in 2020, Bauer agreed to join his hometown Dodgers. He did not pitch after June 29 in 2021 and finished with an 8-2 record and a 2.59 ERA in 17 appearances.
Bauer was placed on administrative leave on July 2, 2021, under the domestic violence policy, a leave extended 13 times.
Among 15 players previously disciplined under the policy, the longest suspension was a full season and postseason for free agent pitcher Sam Dyson in 2021. None of the players previously disciplined under the policy appear to have challenged the penalty before an arbitrator.
Bauer’s suspension was the longest of any MLB player since pitcher Jenrry Mejia was given a lifetime ban in 2016 for a third violation of the drug agreement. Mejia was reinstated for 2019 and returned in the minor leagues.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
Scheduled for March 4th and 5th, 2023, the two-day SoCal festival, organized by FNGRS CRSSD, is set to return to its longtime home of Waterfront Park. Ravers will once again be able to enjoy multiple stages within the venue, including Ocean View, The Palms and City Steps. More artists are yet to be announced.
The alumni pre-sale for CRSSD kicks off on December 20th. General tickets will then release on the 22nd, and payment plans are available. Sign up for SMS pre-sale access here.
Curious to see what CRSSD Fest is all about? Check out our recap of this year’s fall editoin.
LOS ANGELES — The nation’s largest water supplier has declared a drought emergency for all of Southern California, clearing the way for potential mandatory water restrictions early next year that could impact 19 million people.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California provides water to 26 different agencies that supply major population centers like Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
It doesn’t rain much in Southern California, so the district imports about half of its water from the Colorado River and the northern Sierra Nevada via the State Water Project — a complex system of dams, canals and reservoirs that provides drinking water for much of the state.
It’s been so dry the past three years that those water deliveries have hit record lows. Earlier this year, the district declared a drought emergency for the agencies that mostly depend on the State Water Project, which covers about 7 million people.
On Tuesday, the board voted to extended that declaration to cover all Southern California water agencies. They called on agencies to immediately reduce how much water they import. By April, the board will decide whether to make those cuts mandatory if the drought continues.
“Some Southern Californians may have felt somewhat protected from these extreme conditions over the past few years. They shouldn’t anymore. We are all affected,” said Gloria D. Gray, chair of the Metropolitan Water District’s Board.
State officials recently announced that water agencies like Metropolitan will only get 5% of their requested supplies for the start of 2023 due to lower reservoir levels. Some agencies may get a little bit more if its necessary for drinking, sanitation or other health and safety concerns.
The drought declaration comes as Colorado River water managers are meeting in Las Vegas to discuss growing concerns about the river’s future after more than two decades of drought. Scientists say climate change has contributed to sustained warmer and drier weather in the West, threatening water supplies. The river’s two largest reservoirs — Lake Mead on the Nevada-Arizona state line and Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border — are each about one-quarter full.
In California, despite a recent run of storms that have dumped heavy rain and snow in the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley, reservoirs are all well below average for this time of year.
“I think Metropolitan is being very proactive in doing this,” said Dave Eggerton, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. “It’s really the right thing to do.”
Up to 75% of all water used in Southern California is for irrigating yards and gardens. Water agencies dependent upon imported water from the state have had restrictions for much of the year, including limiting outdoor watering to just one day per week.
Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called for residents and businesses to cut their water use by 15%. But since then, residents have reduced water use by just 5.2%, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Water District is investing in what could become the world’s largest water recycling system. Known as Pure Water, the initiative would recycle wastewater instead of sending it out into the ocean.
SAN DIEGO — A San Diego police officer who was shot repeatedly by a fleeing car thief suspect early Monday, before the suspect’s arrest after an hourslong standoff, may have been saved by his protective vest, his chief said.
The officer was shot by the suspect, who later holed up in apartment for about nine hours before a SWAT team stormed the building and apparently saved the man from a drug overdose, authorities said.
Police Chief David Nisleit said at an afternoon news conference that he spoke with the officer, who is expected to make a full recovery. He said the officer had multiple injuries he believes were life-threatening but that medical staff helped save him.
One of the rounds struck the officer’s vest, which the treating physician said most likely saved his life, according to Nisleit.
“He’s in good spirits, he’s sitting up, he’s talking, and that in itself is quite a miracle,” the chief said. Nisleit said the wounded officer “joked that he wants to come back to work very soon.”
The officer was in stable condition after surgery, police Lt. Adam Sharki said.
The weapon used to shoot the officer was an unregistered 9mm “ghost gun,” the police chief said.
Police did not immediately identify the officer, who has been with the department about 1 1/2 years. The officer was on patrol shortly before 12:30 a.m. Monday when he tried to stop a car that had been reported stolen, according to police.
After about an hourlong chase, the driver stopped the car in an apartment complex, got out and ran off. During a foot chase, he apparently lay in wait for the pursuing officers and opened fire on an officer who came around the apartment building, striking him several times, police said.
“Our preliminary investigation up to this point has revealed the attack on the officer was a deliberate and intentional act in which the suspect waited for the officers to come around the corner,” Lt. Steve Shebloski said in an email.
The wounded officer was taken away in a police car.
The man then ran off and entered a vacant townhome where he remained for about nine hours during a standoff with SWAT officers, according to authorities. Police evacuated nearby residents and told others to shelter in place.
Repeated negotiations failed to convince the man to surrender, police said.
“After several hours where the suspect refused to exit the residence, officers saw the suspect was down on the ground,” a police statement said.
The police chief said that during the standoff, the SWAT team used gas and flash-bang grenades, a robot and finally breaching explosives to get into the townhome.
They found the man suffering from an apparent drug overdose at about 10:30 a.m., the police chief said.
Authorities gave him Narcan — which is used in emergencies to reverse opioid overdoses — to “bring him back to life,” Nisleit said.
“He quickly became conscious and breathing,” the chief said.
Police identified the man as Andrew Garcia, 21, of San Diego. They said he was taken to a hospital for treatment, although his condition wasn’t immediately released.
Garcia was to be booked into jail on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer, felony evading, auto theft, reckless discharge of a firearm into an inhabited dwelling and being a felon in possession of a firearm, the police statement said.
Apartment for rent sign displayed on residential street. It won’t be there for long.
getty
Rent Café has released its 2022 year-end report, which looks at the most competitive rental markets this year.
Although apartment construction is at a historic high, finding a rental in 2022 has been challenging. Nationally, the average renter had to compete with 14 other apartment seekers to secure a rental, which didn’t stay listed longer than one month.
With more than two-thirds of renters renewing their leases and an average occupancy rate of more than 95%, this year’s rental market was competitive, despite the autumn slowdown. And with demand climbing up in almost every metropolitan area, renters had the hardest time finding an apartment in Miami, Orlando, Grand Rapids and North Jersey.
Here are some highlights from the report:
Miami-Dade, Florida, was the hottest rental market in 2022, due to a high occupancy rate of 97.5% and a staggering 75% of renters deciding to stay put and renew their leases.As a consequence, despite the area’s supply of apartments growing by 2.8% in 2022 compared to the previous year, a record 32 renters competed for one vacant apartment, which got snatched in 25 days, on average.
In fact, Florida was this year’s renting hotspot: five of the nation’s hottest places to rent were in the Sunshine State, with Orlando being the third most competitive rental market nationwide, followed by Southwest Florida, Broward County and Tampa.
Apartment hunting intensified in the Midwest, especially in areas with slow construction like Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, Omaha and Lansing – Ann Arbor, all of which continue to attract young professionals from pricier metros across the country.
Despite a modest 0.8% uptick in supply, renters inGrand Rapids faced the second toughest market this year: no less than 18 people competed for a vacant apartment, which got filled in 28 days. Meanwhile, Grand Rapids’ occupancy topped at almost 97%, prompting around 70% of renters to renew their leases instead of looking for a new place.
The Northeast continued to lure remote workers seeking extra space and better deals — so much so that seven northeastern markets were among the 20 hottest.Harrisburg, where virtually no new apartments were added this year, emerged as the regional leader, ranking 4th nationwide for competitivity. This was primarily due to its lower cost of living compared to many of the larger metro areas in the Northeast, as well as its family-friendly community and proximity to the great outdoors. Another advantage to living in Harrisburg is its relative proximity to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
Central Jersey was twice more competitive than Manhattan this year. The area had the highest lease renewal rate in the nation (85%) and an average occupancy rate close to 97% (all the while its supply of apartments increased by a mere 0.9%). That said, finding an apartment for rent was quite challenging for most people in the area, as 15 renters competed for an apartment, on average. North Jersey renters were in a similar situation, despite an increase of 2.1% in apartments.
On the West Coast, California’s low-supply Orange County was the hottest renting spot, followed by San Diego, both of which continued to attract renters from Los Angeles and San Francisco. In fact, Orange County and San Diego were the only California markets to reach our top 20 this year.
Orange County was the 8th most competitive rental market nationwide.The low increase in supply (0.6%) failed to accommodate apartment seekers, mostly e-commerce workers, looking for rentals in a city where less than 3% of the apartments were vacant. Similarly, an average of 22 renters competed for a vacant apartment in San Diego, which ranked 13th nationwide.
Although large metros tend to offer more jobs and higher salaries, that doesn’t mean that smaller areas can’t be just as competitive in their own right— and Fayetteville, Arkansas is the perfect example. With a record-high occupancy of 98.3% and more than three-quarters of apartment dwellers opting to stay put this year, renters here had an extremely tough time finding an apartment for rent in Fayetteville. On average, it took just under two weeks for a vacant unit in Fayetteville to become occupied this year, with an astounding 28 prospective renters competing for one apartment.
Here, large employers like the University of Arkansas and Walmart, which is headquartered in nearby Bentonville, provide plenty of opportunities for both locals and newcomers. On top of that, the city is nestled in the Ozark Mountains, thereby making it a great place to live for nature lovers.
The second most competitive small market was Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, where lots of remote workers fleeing tighter restrictions in Philadelphia, New York City and New Jersey during the pandemic found larger apartments that better fit their budgets. At the same time, surging home prices forced many prospective buyers to keep renting until they could resume their house-hunting. Consequently, more than 80% of the people living in rental apartments in Lehigh Valley chose to stay in place this year.
Similarly, the expanding work-from-home trend led thousands of Boston, Manhattan and Washington, D.C, residents to reconsider their housing options in the last two years. Many of them chose to relocate to peaceful Portland, Maine, in search of a slower pace of life within reach of breathtaking scenery. This caused the average rental in Portland to be filled after 26 days, with a record 68 prospective renters competing for every vacant apartment this year. Of course, in all honesty, Bostonians have always had a soft spot for this charming corner of New England.
Other small markets that were highly competitive in 2022 included Lafayette, Indiana, Asheville, North Carolina, Madison, Wisconsin, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Providence, Rhode Island, Knoxville, Tennessee, North Central Florida, Little Rock, Arkansas, Columbus, Georgia, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Wichita, Kansas, Albany, New York, South Bend, Indiana, Fayetteville, North Carolina and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
SAN DIEGO — Former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza will not be charged in connection with an alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party last year when he played for San Diego State University, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said no charges will be filed against any of Araiza’s former Aztec teammates who were also accused in the reported assault in October 2021.
“I am grateful that the district attorney and the San Diego Police Department have discovered all the facts and found no criminal wrongdoing. I am excited to continue my NFL career,” Araiza said in a statement issued by his agent, Joe Linta.
The decision followed an investigation involving more than 35 witness interviews and evidence derived from 10 search warrants that included cellphone data and video from the night in question, the DA’s office said in a statement.
“Ultimately, prosecutors determined it is clear the evidence does not support the filing of criminal charges and there is no path to a potential criminal conviction. Prosecutors can only file charges when they ethically believe they can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” the statement said.
The accuser’s attorney Dan Gilleon tweeted, “I am never surprised when a prosecutor does not file sexual assault charges when the victim was intoxicated.”
“It’s a very rare case where the criminal justice system achieves anything satisfactory for the victim of a sexual assault,” Gilleon continued. “Prosecutors cannot file charges unless they can get a unanimous decision (from jurors) who cannot vote to convict unless they’re convinced beyond any reasonable doubt.”
However, Gilleon said he expected a better verdict in his client’s civil lawsuit, where “the focus is on the harm defendants caused her.”
“The defendants will have no sympathizers once the evidence comes out,” he wrote.
The Buffalo Bills declined to comment.
The Bills released the rookie punter in August just days after backing Araiza based on the findings of what the team called its “thorough examination” of the allegations included in the lawsuit.
The accuser, now 18, alleged in the suit that Araiza, then 21, had sex with her in a side yard at an off-campus residence before bringing her into a bedroom where a group of men took turns raping her. She said she went in and out of consciousness as the men assaulted her for about 90 minutes.
She told her friends that night that she’d been raped and reported the assault to police the following day, according to the court filing.
The lawsuit named Araiza along with two former Aztec teammates who are no longer with the team.
The university has been heavily criticized for delaying an administrative inquiry into the allegations. San Diego State officials have said they deferred investigating at the request of police for fear that conducting their own might harm the criminal investigation.
Araiza was nicknamed the “Punt God” and honored as a consensus All-American for his booming kicks that helped SDSU to a school-best 12-2 season in his senior year. In April, he was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Nearly 48,000 unionized academic workers at all 10 University of California campuses walked off the job Monday, calling for better pay and benefits.
The strike by researchers, postdoctoral scholars, tutors, teaching assistants and graders threatens to disrupt classroom and laboratory instruction across the statewide university system just weeks ahead of final exams in December.
Picket lines went up at 8 a.m., with workers saying they need significant pay raises to afford to live in cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and Berkeley where housing costs are soaring.
The students and employees involved are represented by the United Auto Workers. Rafael Jaime, president of UAW Local 2865, which represents 19,000 of the 48,000 academic workers, joined protesters at UC San Diego.
Union officials say some of the employees make as little as $24,000 per year, according to CBS Los Angeles. Along with higher salaries and greater annual raises, the workers are demanding free public transit passes, improved child care benefits and greater job security.
“After months at the bargaining table and 26 unfair labor practices filed, we have no choice but to move towards a strike,” Jade Moore, a bargaining team member, said in a statement.
“Too many people are being forced out of UC because they aren’t paid enough to afford the rising cost of housing, on or off campus,” Mai Do, a bargaining team member of UAW 2865, told CBS LA. “I’ve had to take on credit card debt while working at UC just to cover my necessities, because over 60% of my salary is spent on rent alone.”
About 48,000 union workers, including graduate student researchers, student employees and teaching assistants, walked off the job at UCLA and nine other University of California campuses across the state on Monday, November 14, 2022.
MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press
“We are negotiating with the university around the clock and listening to all their offers,” Jaime told the Los Angeles Times. “We’re going to be out here as long as it takes.”
Demonstrators were also out in force at UC campuses in Santa Cruz, Merced, Santa Barbara, and Irvine. Some 300,000 student attend the 10 schools that make up one of the nation’s most prestigious state university systems.
In a statement, UC said it had entered the talks with a “genuine willingness to compromise,” adding that “many tentative agreements” on issues such as health and safety had been reached.
Solidarity with the 50,000 University of California academic workers on the picket lines today — the largest higher education strike in U.S. history 🪧✊
“UC’s primary goal in these negotiations is multiyear agreements that recognize these employees’ important and highly valued contributions to UC’s teaching and research mission with fair pay, quality health and family-friendly benefits, and a supportive and respectful work environment,” the statement said.
In addition to pay raises, the unionized workers are demanding child care subsidies, enhanced health care for dependents, public transit passes, lower tuition costs for international scholars and better accessibility for workers with disabilities.
A Southern California woman and her parents have been arrested on allegations of child abuse in the death of an 11-year-old girl earlier this year, authorities announced. The woman was a high-profile member of a San Diego megachurch.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department reported Tuesday that 49-year-old Leticia McCormack and her parents — 75-year-old Stanley Tom and 70-year-old Adella Tom — were arrested in the August death of 11-year-old Arabella McCormack.
Leticia McCormack and Stanley Tom were both booked on one count of murder, and three counts each of torture and willful cruelty to a child, the sheriff’s department said. Adella Tom was booked on three counts each of torture and willful cruelty to a child.
All three plead not guilty at their first court hearing Wednesday, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Arabella had two sisters, ages six and seven, who have since been placed with a foster family, the sheriff’s department said.
Arabella’s biological mother told the U-T that McCormack and her husband became foster parents to Arabella and her two younger sisters in 2017, and later adopted all three of them.
In a criminal complaint, prosecutors alleged McCormack and her parents had abused and tortured Arabella and her two sisters for five-and-a-half years, the U-T reports.
A San Diego woman and her parent have been arrested in the torture and murder of an 11-year-old Arabella McCormack.
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
The situation unfolded in the early morning hours of Aug. 30, when deputies responded to a call of a child in distress at a home in the Spring Valley area of San Diego County, the sheriff’s department said. The child, Arabella, was rushed to a local hospital, where she later died.
During an investigation, detectives suspected signs of possible child abuse, the sheriff’s department reported, and when deputies contacted Arabella’s adopted father, Brian McCormack, he committed suicide in their presence. Brian McCormack was a Border Patrol agent, the U-T reports.
Leticia McCormack, meanwhile, was a high-profile member of Rock Church San Diego, which has several campuses in San Diego County. In a statement to CBS News Thursday, the church said that McCormack was never a pastor at Rock Church, but was “ordained as an elder at another church under the Assemblies of God denomination.”
According to the church, ordained elders work on a volunteer basis with multiple tasks, but still have a “limited scope.” The church said her ordination was “previously suspended and the decision was made to revoke it.”
The church added that it “no longer has any official relationship with Leticia.”
“We have received notice that Leticia and her parents have been arrested as a result of the sheriff’s department investigation,” the church said in its statement. “We continue to grieve for Arabella and her sisters. We are so sorry that their family and friends are experiencing this unimaginable loss and pain.”
SAN DIEGO — Lyn Jutronich was resting in the water during her morning ocean swim when something rammed her hard out of the water.
Jutronich, 50, said she immediately knew it was a shark. She gave her first interviews over the weekend from her hospital bed where she is recovering after the shark bit her leg Friday off the Pacific coast of Del Mar, north of San Diego.
“I felt a huge, like a really hard hit right, I don’t know how else to say this, like right between my legs and it pushed me, it hurt and it pushed me up and out of the water,” Jutronich described to ABC news affiliate KGTV.
“I saw it clamp on my leg so I don’t know if I saw it bite my leg or if I saw it after it bit my leg, but I definitely saw the mouth,” she recalled.
Still clamped onto her right leg, Jutronich said it then shook her once “kind of like a dog.”
Then it let her go.
A friend swimming with her saw her being flung around in the water, then he saw the shark’s fin. He helped her get back to shore where lifeguards and emergency crews treated her then rushed her to a hospital.
She is being treated for puncture and laceration wounds to her upper right thigh.
The shark is believed to have been a juvenile white shark, but officials are waiting for scientists to confirm that. Juvenile white sharks often swim in the waters off Del Mar’s shoreline.
Jutronich told reporters she is still processing what happened.
