By ELLIOT SPAGAT and ACACIA CORONADO UVALDE, Texas (AP) — One student was an avid runner, so fast she swept the races at field day. Another was learning football plays from his grandfather. One girl sensed something was wrong and wanted to skip school. On Wednesday, stories began to emerge about the lives of the 19 children — “precious individuals” according to the school district superintendent — and their two teachers who were gunned down behind a barricaded door at Robb Elementary School in the southwestern Texas town of Uvalde. Vincent Salazar said his 11-year-old daughter, Layla, loved to swim and dance to Tik Tok videos. She was fast — she won six races at the school’s field day, and Salazar proudly posted a photo of Layla showing off two of her ribbons on Facebook. Each morning as h
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By JAKE BLEIBERG, JIM VERTUNO and ELLIOT SPAGAT UVALDE, Texas (AP) — It was 11:28 a.m. when the Ford pickup slammed into a ditch behind the low-slung Texas school and the driver jumped out carrying an AR-15-style rifle. Twelve minutes after that, authorities say, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos was in the hallways of Robb Elementary School. Soon he entered a fourth-grade classroom. And there, he killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in a still-unexplained spasm of violence. At 12:58 p.m., law enforcement radio chatter said Ramos had been killed and the siege was over. What happened in those 90 minutes, in a working-class neighborhood near the edge of the little town of Uvalde, has fueled mounting public anger and scrutiny over law enforcement’s response to Tuesday’s rampage. “They say they
Read MoreBy JAKE BLEIBERG, JIM VERTUNO and ELLIOT SPAGAT UVALDE, Texas (AP) — It was 11:28 a.m. when the Ford pickup slammed into a ditch behind the low-slung Texas school and the driver jumped out carrying an AR-15-style rifle. Twelve minutes after that, authorities say, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos was in the hallways of Robb Elementary School. Soon he entered a fourth-grade classroom. And there, he killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in a still-unexplained spasm of violence. At 12:58 p.m., law enforcement radio chatter said Ramos had been killed and the siege was over. What happened in those 90 minutes, in a working-class neighborhood near the edge of the little town of Uvalde, has fueled mounting public anger and scrutiny over law enforcement’s response to Tuesday’s rampage. “They say they
Read MoreBy Lynn Elber | Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Ellen DeGeneres brought her nearly two-decade daytime talk show to an end Thursday with a celebrity lovefest and a forceful assertion of her achievement as a gay woman daring to be herself. DeGeneres and guests Jennifer Aniston, Billie Eilish and Pink shared memories and affection as “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” concluded its Emmy-winning, 3,200-plus episode run that began in September 2003. “Twenty years ago, when we were trying to sell the show, no one thought that this would work. Not because it was a different kind of show, but because I was different,” DeGeneres said of the pushback from TV stations. When the syndicated show went on the air, she was prevented from saying the word “gay” or even the pronoun “we,” DeGeneres said, since the lat
Read MoreTwo weeks after arthouse film fans in Los Angeles found out they were losing a beloved institution in the Landmark Theatres Pico, the Landmark Theatres company announced on Thursday, May 26, that it has signed a long-term lease to operate at the Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, with plans to open in the summer. “The Playhouse acquisition is important for Landmark, as we’re able to continue the tradition of showcasing quality film to Pasadena’s movie-going community,” Landmark Theatres President Kevin Holloway said in a statement. “This theater has a deep history, which we look forward to honoring and building upon in the years ahead.” The company plans to undertake a series of renovations in the coming months to the seven-screen, 1,300-seat venue located at 673 E. Colorado Blvd. Planned improveme...
Read MoreTRACY — A 16-year-old boy was in San Joaquin County Juvenile Hall on Thursday after his arrest in connection with a social media post that threatened a school shooting, authorities said. In a statement, police said officers received word of the post, which mentioned “a clear threat of harm and a picture of a specific school” around 3:22 a.m. from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After some investigation, officers reached out to a west Tracy home and spoke to the teen and his parents. The teen, who police said was not a Tracy Unified School District student, told officers he had made the threat but did not plan any actual violence. He then led officers to what police described as a realistic-looking BB gun, which his parents did not know he had. A home search did not reveal additional ...
Read MoreSAN FRANCISCO — Steve Kerr’s angry, emotional speech in the wake of the shooting at Robb Elementary School spread quickly across social media and national news. Kerr says many people have reached out to him asking what they can do to help. “I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me, most asking what they can do. And I think that’s a really good question,” Kerr said. In his impassioned statement before Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Mavericks, Kerr said he was “fed up” after 18-year-old gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, about 350 miles south of Dallas. “When are we going to do something?” Kerr said on Tuesday, raising his voice and on the verge of tears. “I’m tired. I’m so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated fa
Read MorePhoto Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/GettyChina and Russia flew six nuclear bombers over the Sea of Japan this week as President Joe Biden was in Tokyo. It was a dramatic show of alliance that should remind us of the lessons that we’ve learned from Ukraine—and that we should be ready to apply those lessons to Taiwan, possibly soon. China has been doubling down its intimidation tactics toward Taiwan in recent months. Beijing sent a carrier group, led by its first in-service aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, to conduct military drills in waters near Taiwan in April. “Similar exercises will be conducted on a regular basis in the future,” a Chinese naval official said. The following week, China sent 25 fighter jets and nuclear bombers into Taiwan’s air defense identification zon...
Read MoreThe premiere of “Stranger Things 4” is one of the most anticipated television events of the year, but the hit Netflix series was not immune to the tragic events in Uvalde, Texas, this week. Following the school shooting at Robb Elementary school, which killed 19 students and two teachers, Netflix has opted to run a warning card ahead of the new episodes (via Variety). The reasoning is that certain scenes depicting violence against children could be particularly traumatizing to viewers still processing the Uvalde shooting. The warning card, which will be shown to American viewers before Episode 1 of the new season, reads: “We filmed this season of ‘Stranger Things’ a year ago. But given the recent tragic shooting at a school in Texas, viewers may find the opening scene of episode 1 distres
Read MoreMayor Lori Lightfoot walks around City Council chambers Wednesday in advance of the casino vote.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times Chicagoans have had to swallow more than a few bitter pills on the way to getting aldermanic approval this week for the city’s first casino. And now comes one more. As WBEZ’s Becky Vevea and Mariah Woelfel reported this week, the casino revenue will cover just 9% of the city’s annual massive pension contribution. And that’s 9% at best. As this editorial board stated earlier this week, Bally’s said the casino would generate $200 million toward pension coffers — but is not contractually required by the city to actually deliver that amount. Editorials bug Editorials All the while, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the yearly cut from the city
Read MoreFederal jury sides with ousted Oakland police chief who brought whistleblower suit against city
A federal jury has sided with former Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick in deciding she was wrongfully terminated in 2020. The decision came Thursday, about a week and a half after the jury trial began. In that time, city officials, police officers and members of the city’s police oversight commission were called to the stand to settle the question at the root of the lawsuit: whether Kirkpatrick was fired in retaliation for reporting allegedly bad behavior by the police commissioners, or whether — as the city’s mayor and commissioners testified — they terminated her because the community had lost faith in her ability to truly reform the department. The Oakland Police Commission is made up of seven appointed city residents and was created to oversee the police department’s policies and p
Read MoreOAKLAND — A man was shot Thursday morning in an East Oakland neighborhood, authorities said. Shortly after 9:40 a.m., police responded to reports of ShotSpotter activity in the 1400 block of 74th Avenue in the city’s Arroyo Viejo neighborhood. When officers arrived, they found a victim who had been shot in his arm. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and later listed in stable condition. Police did not initially provide details about any associated suspect or vehicle. For information leading to the arrest of a suspect, police are offering up to $5,000 for each injury shooting. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3426 or Crime Stoppers of Oakland at 510-777-8572. Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180. ...read more Source:: The Mercury News – Latest News...
Read MoreWhen a shooter attacked a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, on May 14, its security guard tried to stop him. At least one of his shots hit the gunman, but it didn’t stop the deadly rampage because the gunman was wearing body armor. Ten Black people died in the racist massacre, including security guard Aaron Salter, a retired Buffalo police officer hailed as a hero. It's the latest mass shooting in which the gunman apparently came prepared for anyone trying to stop him with a gun. At least 21 mass shooters over the last four decades have worn some kind of body armor — and the majority of those were within the last 10 years, according to a database maintained by The Violence Project, a nonpartisan research group that tracks gun violence. Among them: A massacre that killed 12 people and in
Read MoreBy Joe Sutton and Christina Maxouris | CNN The husband of Irma Garcia, one of the two teachers killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has died, according to a GoFundMe campaign and a Twitter post from Garcia’s nephew. Joe Garcia died Thursday morning “as a result of a medical emergency,” according to the GoFundMe. His death comes two days after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire on the school, killing 19 children and the two teachers. On the school’s website, Irma Garcia’s biography says the two had been married for at least 24 years and had four children — two sons and two daughters. “Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers,” the GoFundMe, posted by Irma Garcia’s cousin, said. “I truly believe Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life of more than ...
Read MoreBy Joe Sutton and Christina Maxouris | CNN The husband of Irma Garcia, one of the two teachers killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has died, according to a GoFundMe campaign and a Twitter post from Garcia’s nephew. Joe Garcia died Thursday morning “as a result of a medical emergency,” according to the GoFundMe. His death comes two days after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire on the school, killing 19 children and the two teachers. On the school’s website, Irma Garcia’s biography says the two had been married for at least 24 years and had four children — two sons and two daughters. “Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers,” the GoFundMe, posted by Irma Garcia’s cousin, said. “I truly believe Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life of more than ...
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