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Wrongful termination lawsuit alleges thousands of drivers may have been mischarged on San Diego toll road

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:16:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A lawsuit filed Friday alleges that thousands of drivers who have driven on State Route 125 may have been incorrectly charged on the toll roads.The lawsuit claims up to 45,000 drivers on the 10-mile stretch of toll road may have been affected.WarremComplaint111723DownloadThe findings come from a lawsuit filed against SANDAG, which claims the Director of Accounting and Finance Lauren Warrem had been "wrongfully terminated" a little more than a month after pointing out the suspected accounting issues.The suit said in September Warrem began noticing software system issues from State Route 125, which included financial inaccuracies on customer accounts. The suit gave examples of two potential issues allegedly noticed: "(1) Customer A deposited money into their toll account, but that money was credited to Customer J’s account. (2) When Customer B drove through a toll lane, the charge was incorrectlyapplied to Customer J’s account," the lawsuit states. Substitute teacher ar...

University City teacher faces new federal charges in attempt to entice minor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:16:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Sean Stevenson appeared back in federal court for new charges. With no camera allowed inside the federal court, Stevenson pleaded not guilty to possession of child pornography and attempted enticement of a minor.Stevenson has retained criminal defense attorney Dana Grimes.Investigators discovered Stevenson during another sex traffic investigation in April involving the arrests of a pimp and a sex worker.Investigators said they found text messages between the worker and a San Diego number they allege was Stevenson’s.Court documents showed the number offered a “finders fee…if she could provide him with an underage prostitute.”The criminal complaint showed Stevenson texted an undercover officer who posed as a prostitute claiming to be sex trafficking her 16-year-old cousin. Substitute teacher arrested after suspected ‘inappropriate activity’ with teen: police Court documents showed Stevenson agreed to pay $140 for sex acts from the teen with a meet-up time and date.Offic...

San Diego resident dies from tick bite; health officials warn of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:16:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Health officials are warning the public to be aware of tickborne illnesses after a San Diego resident recently died from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. A San Diego resident traveled to the Baja California region before becoming sick and later dying, the County of San Diego Communications Office reported Tuesday. They did not specify an exact timeline. Invasive tick found in 19 states likely to be ‘long-term problem,’ Ohio researchers warn This is prompting San Diego County public health officials to raise awareness of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Rocky Mountain Spotted FeverHumans and dogs can contract the disease from a tick bite. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is treated with antibiotics most efficiently when a person is diagnosed within the first week. Those with the disease can develop a spotted red rash. Early symptoms include fever, headaches, and stomach upset, so health officials warn anyone with insect bites or who recently traveled to report it to a...

Lotto Max winning numbers for Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:16:52 GMT

TORONTO — The winning numbers in Tuesday’s Lotto Max draw for an estimated $40 million: 07, 13, 30, 34, 37, 38 & 42. Bonus: 35In the event of any discrepancy between this list and the official winning numbers, the latter shall prevail.The Canadian Press

South Korea partially suspends inter-Korean agreement after the North says it launched spy satellite

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:16:52 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will partially suspend an inter-Korean agreement Wednesday to restart frontline aerial surveillance of North Korea, after the North said it launched a military spy satellite in violation of United Nations bans, Seoul officials said.The South Korean announcement — which will likely infuriate North Korea — came hours after the North claimed to have placed a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit in its third such launch attempt this year.The North’s claim hasn’t been independently verified; the Pentagon said it was still assessing the success of the launch, while Japan stated there has been no confirmation that the North Korean satellite entered orbit. But the United States and its allies still quickly condemned the North Korean launch, which they believe was meant to improve the country’s missile technology as well as establish a space-based surveillance system.North Korea says it has sovereign, legitimate rights to launch spy satelli...

Exploding wild pig population on western Canadian prairie threatens to invade northern US states

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:16:52 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An exploding population of hard-to-eradicate “super pigs” in Canada is threatening to spill south of the border, and northern states like Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana are taking steps to stop the invasion. In Canada, the wild pigs roaming Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba pose a new threat. They are often crossbreeds that combine the survival skills of wild Eurasian boar with the size and high fertility of domestic swine to create a “super pig” that’s spreading out of control. Ryan Brook, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan and one of Canada’s leading authorities on the problem, calls feral swine, “the most invasive animal on the planet” and “an ecological train wreck.”Pigs are not native to North America. While they’ve roamed parts of the continent for centuries, Canada’s problem dates back only to the 1980s when it encouraged farmers to raise wild boar, Brook said. The market collapsed after peaking in 2001 and som...

Police say 2 dead and 5 wounded in Philadelphia shooting that may be drug-related

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:16:52 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A shooting in Philadelphia killed two men and wounded five others Tuesday night and police said the violence may have been drug-related.Reports of shots being fired sent police to Fairhill Street in North Philadelphia at about 8:30 p.m., where they found four wounded men on the ground, interim Police Commissioner John Stanford told reporters.All were taken to a hospital, where two were pronounced dead, Stanford said.Three other wounded men walked into three hospitals but there was no immediate word on their conditions.The men ranged in age from about 19 to 32 or 33, Stanford said.At least 70 shots were fired, Stanford said.Four handguns and a long gun along with narcotics were found at the scene, and investigators believe several shooters were involved, he said.The Associated Press

Yes, France is part of the European Union’s heart and soul. Just don’t touch its Camembert cheese

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:16:52 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has long known that the way to France’s heart is through its stomach. So, don’t touch the Camembert — never, ever.On Wednesday, legislators at the European Parliament will vote to make sure it doesn’t happen.In one of the many legal proposals on streamlining and optimizing waste management throughout the 27-nation bloc, some French cheese producers sniffed out something and turned it into a culinary stink.They claimed that the proposal would make it illegal for Camembert to be cradled into the wooden packaging for its final weeks of ripening and, eventually, sale. The round box is as essentially Camembert as its onctuous texture and pungent smell.Suddenly, there was a frenzied flutter that something fundamentally French would fall foul of the Brussels bureaucrats — derisively known by many as Eurocrats — who are all too often blamed for flaws real and false.“It is a matter of common sense. Don’t touch our Camemberts!” said Jean-Pa...

Maui wildfire survivors camp on the beach to push mayor to convert vacation rentals into housing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:16:52 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — A group of Lahaina wildfire survivors is vowing to camp on a popular resort beach until the mayor uses his emergency powers to shut down unpermitted vacation rentals and make the properties available for residents in desperate need of housing. Organizers with the group Lahaina Strong are focusing on 2,500 vacation rental properties they’ve identified in West Maui that don’t have the usual county permits to be rented out for less than 30 days at a time. For years their owners have legally rented the units to travelers anyway because the county granted them an exemption from the standard rules. Lahaina Strong says the mayor should use his emergency powers to suspend this exemption. “I’m kind of at the point where I’m like ‘too bad, so sad,’” said organizer Jordan Ruidas. “We never knew our town was going to burn down and our people need housing,” The group says they are staying on Kaanapali Beach, exercising their Native Hawaiian rights t...

At Black Lives Matter house, families are welcomed into space of freedom and healing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:16:52 GMT

STUDIO CITY, California (AP) — Some of the mystery and controversy shrouding a sprawling Los Angeles-area property owned by a national Black Lives Matter nonprofit have dissipated for dozens of families grieving a loved one killed by police.The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Inc., which was widely criticized last year for purchasing a $6 million compound with donations that followed racial justice protests in 2020, hosted the families for a dinner at the home this fall. The event coincided with an annual conference in southern California, where hundreds who are affected by police violence meet to find support in their journeys to healing, accountability and justice.More than 150 dinner guests, including some who previously accused the foundation of using their loved ones’ names to raise tens of millions of dollars over the last decade, were not just fed and sent on their way. They were given tours of the gated property that has six bedrooms and bathrooms, a swimming po...