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Island travel: Explore an uninhabited California island for one day or 10

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

You don’t have to travel to the South Pacific to entertain dreams of desert islands. There’s a chain of  uninhabited islands — Santa Cruz, Anacapa, Santa Rosa, Santa Barbara and San Miguel — just off the coast of California, all easily reachable for a day’s jaunt, an overnight or more. No shipwrecks or Robinson Crusoe shenanigans required.The five islands of Channel Island National Park are accessible only by boat, with ferries from Ventura Harbor Village available to transport the 100,000 or so guests who visit each year. No hotels — this isn’t Catalina, after all — but each island has campsites where you can pitch your pop-up tent or sleep under the stars. If you’re willing to truly unplug and spend an overnight away from it all, you’ll experience a quiet solitude unlike any other.Start your adventure at the Channel Islands National Park Visitors Center in Ventura Harbor Village, where Island Packers offers island access cruises of one to three ...

The gunman who killed 8 people at a Texas mall was removed from the military due to mental health concerns, source says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

The second-deadliest US mass shooting of the year unfolded at a shopping mall in an affluent Texas suburb, leaving eight victims dead and investigators probing whether the killer may have been driven by right-wing extremism.Authorities have not announced a motive for why the gunman, 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, unleashed a hailstorm of bullets Saturday at Allen Premium Outlets — about 25 miles north of Dallas.Garcia served in the military for a brief period but was removed due to concerns about his mental health, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation tells CNN.The source could not specify the branch Garcia served in or what time period. CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.Garcia, who was killed at the scene by an Allen police officer who was on a nearby call, was wearing an insignia that authorities believe may be associated with extremist groups, a senior law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN.Investigators have unearthe...

Man faces charges after model dies in fall from New York hotel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

A 24-year-old Littleton man has been arrested following the death of a Colorado model who fell from high in a New York Times Square hotel this week after a fight, police confirmed Friday morning.Tyler Griffin has been charged with assault, reckless endangerment, and acting in a manner injurious to a child, New York Police Department Detective Arlene Muniz said.An 8-month-old daughter rescued at the OYO Times Square Hotel, 157 W. 47th St., has been placed in protective custody.The woman — identified online as Dezirae Andersen — fell from high at the hotel and landed on second-story scaffolding, police said.The police received a 911 call at 10:27 p.m. Tuesday of an assault in progress in the hotel, Muniz said. They found a woman who had fallen on the scaffolding “unconscious and unresponsive,” she said. Emergency medical workers pronounced her dead at the scene.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Former UC Davis student pleads not guilty in Davis stabbings Crime ...

Wish You Were Here: Beachy Australia adventures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Our adventuresome, globe-trotting readers have been traveling to destinations as far flung as Austria’s cultural capital, the jungles of Uganda and the streets of Old Montreal — and sharing their experiences along the way. Today, a Saratoga couple are offering up details on New Zealand’s beach scene.Wish You Were HereAUSTRALIA: Saratoga residents Evelyn and Joe Longo visited family in Melbourne in February for a sun-soaked, beachy holiday. “We spent most of our time in the bay-side town of Black Rock,” Joe says. “Melbourne’s bay beaches are favorite destinations for Melbournians. On one side are the beautiful sandy beaches with shallow water — ideal for kids. On the other side are the surf beaches — ideal for adults.“The entire east side is well served with endless pedestrian and bicycle paths, safely separated from the traffic. All around the bay, each suburb has its own yacht club, making for great lunch and dinner destinations...

Father doing yardwork killed by his own truck after child set it rolling, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

A young father doing yardwork at his Utah home was killed when his son, playing in a pickup truck’s cab, caused the vehicle to roll down a slope and run him over, police said.The man’s mother, working alongside him, was critically injured.The accident was reported around 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the 2-year-old Summit Ridge subdivision in Santaquin, along Interstate 15 about 20 miles south of Provo.The truck had been parked on a slope in the yard, and the pair were loading landscaping rocks into the bed. The child reportedly pulled on the truck’s gear shift and, though the vehicle was not running, was able to knock it out of gear, the police report said. The truck rolled backward, striking the 23-year-old man and his 47-year-old mother.The man died at the scene; the woman, with severe injuries, was flown to a hospital, police said.A GoFundMe page posted by a person identifying herself as the man’s sister-in-law said he was married and the father of two boys, ages...

VP Kamala Harris is finding her stride as Team Biden’s voice to Black voters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

By Akayla Gardner | BloombergKamala Harris began finding her footing last year with a rousing, impromptu eulogy for a Black matriarch that drew a mostly African-American audience to its feet — a task she must now replicate on a wide scale to secure President Joe Biden’s reelection.Harris, the first woman, Black and Asian vice president, was unexpectedly called on stage to speak at the funeral last May for Ruth Whitfield, an 86-year-old woman killed in a racist mass shooting in Buffalo.“The more she talked, the more passionate and fiery she got,” said civil-rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton, who called her speech an “a-ha moment” for an administration that lacked a reliable bond with the Black community. “All of us knew we were looking for something. She’s become that something.”Harris is hitting some of her stride at a crucial moment as she and the president officially launch their reelection bid. Biden credits Black voters for his 2020 victory, with exit polls showing he carried 8...

Travel Troubleshooter: Hotels.com promised me a refund years ago, so where is it?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: We booked a room at the Oasis at Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos through Hotels.com in January 2020, for accommodations in early April 2020. When we booked the reservation, we could not reserve the same room for our entire stay, so we made two separate reservations.Christopher Elliott, the Travel Troubleshooter We had to cancel because of the pandemic. I emailed the hotel numerous times to resolve this, and the company finally issued a refund for one of the reservations, but not the other. I asked why, and they could not give me a straight answer.I reached out to Hotels.com, and they responded that they would issue a voucher for the same hotel. I did not want this and just wanted a refund. I went back and forth with them for a while on this and have not received my refund.Hotels.com now says my voucher has expired, and they can’t do anything else for me regarding this. None of this adds up. Can you please get my $1,632 back?— Michelle Sprek...

Wish You Were Here: Easter Island adventures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Our intrepid readers have been globetrotting — and reporting in — from locations as far flung as Uganda and New Zealand. Today, a Sunnyvale resident is sharing tales from the tip of Tierra del Fuego.Wish You Were HereEASTER ISLAND: Sunnyvale resident Peggy Graham’s recent travels took her to the southernmost tip of South America with stops at Easter Island and Cape Horn, as well as Santiago, Chile, and Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and Trewlew in Argentina. “I went with Overseas Adventure Travel,” she says. “They have an amazing relationship with the local people, offering dinners with them in their homes. We were one of the first tours to go to Easter Island since the pandemic. It was always a dream of mine. We had a local guide, the daughter of an archaeologist, who grew up on the island.”Related ArticlesTravel | Wish You Were Here: Uganda gorilla adventures Travel | Wish You Were Here: New Zealand m...

Oakland Diocese files bankruptcy over child sex abuse lawsuits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

(KRON) -- The Diocese of Oakland is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to child sex abuse claims, it announced Monday in a press release. The diocese says it faces more than 330 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse.According to the release, Catholic schools in operation under the Oakland Diocese are part of separate legal entities and are not included in the bankruptcy filing. Employees and vendors will also be paid as usual with employee benefits continuing uninterrupted, the release continues. Oakland teachers strike continues Monday “After careful consideration of the various alternatives for providing just compensation to innocent people who were harmed, we believe this process is the best way to ensure a fair and equitable outcome for survivors,” said Bishop Michael C. Barber. “It will also allow RCBO to stabilize its finances and continue the sacred mission entrusted to us by Christ and the Church. Given our current financial resources, RCBO could not shoulder the burden o...

1 arrested after woman shot at DC post office

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

A woman is in the hospital after being shot in the parking lot of a postal facility in Northeast D.C. Monday morning.D.C. police told WTOP the shooting happened before 9:30 a.m. on the U.S. Post Office on Brentwood Road.One woman was shot and taken to the hospital. She is “conscious and breathing,” police said.One person — another woman — was taken into police custody. It is unclear if she is the shooter.Police did not say if the women work at the facility.This is a developing story. Stay with WTOP for the latest. Source