WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 712,000, the lowest total since early November, evidence that fewer employers are cutting jobs amid a decline in confirmed coronavirus cases and signs of an improving economy. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for unemployment aid dropped by 42,000 from…… MORE
Judge OKs 3rd-Degree Murder Charge for Ex-Cop in Floyd Death
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A judge has granted prosecutors’ request to add a third-degree murder charge against the former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death. Judge Peter Cahill on Thursday added the charge after the former officer, Derek Chauvin, failed to get appellate courts to block it. Cahill had earlier rejected the charge as…… MORE
House Renews Push to Expand Gun Background Checks
WASHINGTON (AP) – Emboldened by their majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats are making a new push to enact the first major new gun control laws in more than two decades and they’re starting with stricter background checks. T he House is poised to pass two bills on Thursday that would require background checks…… MORE
CA Murder Suspect Mistakenly Released From Custody
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A murder suspect was mistakenly released from custody in Southern California and remained at large Wednesday as prosecutors and two law enforcement agencies tried to deflect blame for the error. Steven Manzo was charged with fatally shooting a man in Long Beach in 2018. Manzo was arrested a year ago and…… MORE
Texas AG: Probe to Continue Despite Twitter Lawsuit
DALLAS (AP) – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says a lawsuit by Twitter won’t deter his office from investigating the content moderation practices of the social media giant and four other major technology companies. Twitter sued the Republican official this week in an effort to halt his probe, which. Twitter says Paxton launched in retaliation…… MORE
2 Postal Workers Linked to Calif. Unemployment Fraud
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Two U.S. Postal Service employees have been charged with abusing their positions to purchase postal money orders with thousands of dollars in California unemployment benefits obtained through false claims of pandemic-related job losses. The Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office says the two were arrested Wednesday. A criminal complaint alleges conspiracy, aggravated…… MORE
Maskless Passenger Coughs On, Assaults Calif. Uber Driver
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – San Francisco Police say they are investigating an attack on an Uber driver who was assaulted by a woman who refused to wear a mask. The driver, an immigrant form Nepal, says the attack captured on a now-viral video was racially motivated. The woman was with two other women wearing masks…… MORE
CA Could Get $150 Billion from Federal Virus Relief Bill
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration says the massive new federal coronavirus relief bill will pump more than $150 billion into the state’s economy. Nearly half of that money will go to Californians directly in the form of $1,400 checks and expanded unemployment benefits. Another $26 billion will go to the state…… MORE
Man Arrested, Accused of Pimping, Pandering, Human Trafficking
FRESNO, CA (KMJ) — A man was arrested on Friday following a month-long human trafficking investigation. It started February 1 when the Fresno Police Department was called to Belmont Ave. and Broadway St. to check the welfare of a 28-year-old woman. Police believed the woman may be a victim of human trafficking. The Fresno Police…… MORE
Investigation Into Capitol Riot Narrows In On Organized Extremist Groups
UNDATED (AP) – Authorities investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol say two extremist groups that traveled to Washington along with thousands of other Trump supporters weren’t whipped into an impulsive frenzy by President Donald Trump that day. Instead, authorities allege evidence points to the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys laying attack plans…… MORE
