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Mischief-maker made whole: Meet the Monterey couple who got Dennis the Menace back on his feet

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:01 GMT

MONTEREY – He was sliced, stolen and submerged, only to turn up soggy – and footless. Dennis the Menace has gone through the wringer these past few months, getting a taste of his own devilment. And then some.But after a series of bad breaks, the bronze rascal is back on his feet – both of them – thanks to a local metal fabrication shop conveniently fit for bringing Dennis back to his full mischievous glory.Eric and Stacey Johnson are the owners and operators of Pacific Metalcraft, a small operation based out of Monterey that specializes in metalwork, unique furniture design, sculpture and sculpture restoration. Last month, the artistic team helped repair El Estero Park’s beloved Dennis the Menace statue, that was cut and stolen in August but found at the bottom of Roberts Lake in Seaside in February.Based on the Peninsula for the past 17 years, the pair know the life-sized rendering of Hank Ketcham’s cartoon creation well. So when the city of Monterey needed help welding Dennis back...

Jury: Man mostly at fault for his own death after being detained by California deputies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:01 GMT

A federal jury in Riverside on Friday, April 7, awarded $7.5 million to the sister of a man who died while being detained by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies in Temecula in 2019. But jurors also found that Kevin Robert Niedzialek, 34, a methamphetamine addict, was 80% at fault for his own death.As a result, the sister, Tracey Alves, will receive $1.5 million in a decision that left her attorneys and Sheriff Chad Bianco debating exactly what the five-man, three-woman jury agreed upon.Alves sued after Niedzialek died after twice being incapacitated by a deputy’s stun gun and handcuffed on July 29, 2019. Court filings by the attorneys for Alves and the county tell much of the same narrative about the confrontation, but Alves’ attorneys say Niedzialek stopped breathing after a deputy knelt on his back as he lay face-down on the ground.Niedzialek did not recover and was pronounced dead the next day.The county’s attorneys wrote in a response to the lawsuit that the county was not respo...

Mysterious, jelly-like creatures are invading some California beaches

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:01 GMT

If you head to the beach this weekend, you may come across a mysterious, unusual sea creature on Southern California’s shoreline.Hundreds of “by-the-wind sailors,” jelly-like creatures known for their beautiful blue hues, were spotted two miles from Orange County by Dana Wharf Whale Watching on Friday, April 7, with reports this weekend of some already washing up on shore in Huntington Beach, the South Bay and on beaches farther north.“Watch for them on the beaches, they are going to be washing shore pretty soon,” said Nona Reimer, known as Nona the Naturalist for Dana Wharf who explained the creature on a video posted to social media. View this post on InstagramA post shared by Dana Wharf Whale Watching (@danawharf)In Huntington Beach, Marine Safety Battalion Chief Doug Leach estimated his team spotted hundreds of them on Saturday, but he admitted they were hard to quantify.“We have a ton of them, mostly north of the pier, all over the high tide line as the tide was dropping this ...

California woman gets 4 years in prison for unwitting role in plot against Iranian opposition activist

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:01 GMT

NEW YORK  — An Iranian opposition activist who U.S. authorities said was the target of two thwarted kidnapping or murder plots urged a federal judge in New York on Friday to hand a tough prison sentence to a woman who unwittingly funded one of the planned attacks.Masih Alinejad, a onetime Iranian journalist, said her sense of safety has been shattered since authorities notified her in 2020 that she was being watched and that photographs were taken of her Brooklyn residence of 10 years. Since then, she has received U.S. government protection and has moved frequently between safe houses.“This crime left its mark. Every day when I go out in the street, I have to look over my shoulders. … I miss my tree-lined street and my neighbors who treated me as one of their own,” Alinejad told Judge Ronnie Abrams as she asked her to set an example by sending 48-year-old Niloufar Bahadorifar, of Irvine, California, to prison for as long as possible.Abrams did just that, announcing a four-year priso...

Woman dies after she and 2 grandchildren found unresponsive in California pool

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:01 GMT

A 65-year-old woman died Friday, April 7 after she and her grandchildren were found unresponsive in the swimming pool at her Murrieta home, police said.Officers responded to Spring Meadow Drive around 11:30 a.m. where the woman and her two grandchildren had been found unresponsive in the pool, according to Murrieta Police spokesperson Lt. Jeremy Durant. The children’s father and a neighbor were performing CPR on the children, a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old.Despite medical intervention, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.The children were hospitalized and remain in critical condition as of Saturday morning, Durant said.Murrieta Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the drowning, he said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | SF: World-champion cyclist killed in crash at Presidio Crime and Public Safety | Climber in Utah dies after pushing another climber out of the way of falling ice Crime and Public Safety | ...

Dear Abby: I don’t want my wife to be a stay-at-home mom to a dog

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:01 GMT

DEAR ABBY: My fiancee moved back in with me after living somewhere else for five months. She brought with her a puppy that will grow into a 50- to 75-pound dog.I made it clear to her that I wasn’t into raising a dog in my cramped space.She says she wants a house dog, but I think she wants an excuse to be homebound. How can I convince her that the consequences may end our relationship?NO WAY IN NORTH CAROLINADEAR NO WAY: Why was your fiancee living elsewhere for five months? Why did you allow her to move back in with a dog if you didn’t want one in your cramped space?A 50- to 75-pound dog needs exercise and a yard. It sounds like your place has neither. Unless you want a stay-at-home wife and a large dog, draw the line now.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: This toxic person put me in his will. What should I do? Advice | Dear Abby: She doesn’t know how cruel her new friend was to us Advice | Dear Abby: I’m still marr...

Estonia’s Kaja Kallas secures government coalition agreement

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:01 GMT

Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has reached an agreement with two other political parties to form a coalition government, according to media reports. About a month after the elections, Kallas announced on Saturday a deal between her center-right Reform Party, the centrist Estonia 200 Party and the Social Democratic Party, the Associated Press reported. “This agreement ensures that Estonia is protected, that we can continue as an independent and self-sustaining country,” Kallas told a press conference, according to AP. The Reform Party — which was at the helm of a coalition government with the Social Democrats and the Fatherland party until now — comfortably won re-election in early March. Kallas, Estonia’s first female prime minister, is expected to keep the job she’s been holding since 2021. Her party will have seven ministerial portfolios, according to AP, including finance and defense. The former MEP, a long-standing critic of Russian President Vladimi...

New MBTA leader’s former boss defends his overtime record following criticism

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:01 GMT

The former boss of incoming MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng defended his record on overtime at Long Island Rail Road, stating that this spending, which had been “out of control” there for decades, went down each year Eng was in charge.Patrick Foye, president and then CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from 2017 to August 2021, said getting a handle on excessive overtime wasn’t easy, but Eng made it a priority, even keeping numbers down in the midst of major capital projects at the Long Island Rail Road.Eng, who starts his new position at the MBTA on Monday, chose not to fill non-essential vacant positions, tightened management procedures, and directed the LIRR’s then-chief operating officer to focus on the issue, following years of rampant overtime abuse and pension fraud there, Foye said.“Overtime was excessive and out of control,” Foye told the Herald. “It was a significant matter for the Long Island Rail Road and the other MTA agencies, and I think Phil, the proof ...

Orioles pitcher Tyler Wells wants the challenge of being a starter: ‘That’s what makes it so fulfilling’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:01 GMT

Tyler Wells wants to be a starting pitcher.Well, of course he does. Most pitchers prefer starting over relieving. It’s a more glamorous job, and usually a higher-paying one, too.But for Wells, who won the last spot in the Orioles’ rotation in spring training, his desire to be a starter is more about the pressure than the prestige.“For me, I think that being in control of a game is one of the biggest responsibilities you can have,” Wells said as spring training neared an end. “I’m a guy who likes to put a lot of responsibility on my back.”Wells, who will start his first game of the season Sunday, admits that hitting 100 mph fastballs and physics-defying offspeed pitches might be the hardest part of playing baseball. But for pitchers, there’s no greater challenge than being a starter. Taking the ball every fifth day, week after week, and facing a lineup multiple times, throwing upwards of 100 pitches and having a “W” or ̶...

Pope, big crowd mark Easter in flower-adorned Vatican square

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:01 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis opened a celebration of Mass on Easter Sunday joined by dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square, where spring flowers made the vast space bright. made bright by spring flowers.Orange-red tulips, yellow sprays of forsythia and daffodils, and other colorful seasonal blooms were transported in trucks from the Netherlands on Saturday and set up in planters to decorate the Vatican square, which quickly filled up Sunday with Rome residents and Holy Week visitors to the city.Some 45,000 people had gathered by the start of the mid-morning Mass, according to Vatican security services. At the beginning of the Easter ceremony inspired by the core Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead after his crucifixion, Francis sprinkled holy water and sounded somewhat tired as he recited ritual words in Latin. A canopy on the edge of steps on the square sheltered the pontiff, who was back in the public eye 12 hours af...