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MS-13 gang member from El Salvador gets life in prison for metro Denver murders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:21 GMT

A 31-year-old member of the MS-13 gang from El Salvador has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for his roles in two murders, an attempted murder and an apartment shooting in Colorado, judicial officials announced — part of broader efforts to crack down on transnational criminal groups trying to gain a foothold in metro Denver.After a four-week trial, Mauricio Alvarado-Vasquez was convicted and sentenced in state court in July to life in prison without parole, 18th Judicial District officials confirmed Friday morning.Citing “security concerns” and worries about a potential for witness intimidation, law enforcement officials did not publicize this and more than a dozen other cases against MS-13 members who committed multiple crimes around metro Denver in 2019 and 2020 until this week, judicial district spokesman Eric Ross said.Alvarado-Vasquez was convicted of the Sept. 8, 2019, murder of Vicky DeDios, 46, whose body was left on the floor of a burning bl...

Hip-hop celebrates its 50th anniversary  

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:21 GMT

It all started with a back-to-school party 50 years ago. Now, it’s grown to become one of the most popular music genres in the world. On August 11, 1973, hip-hop was born in the recreation room at 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx borough of New York City. According to the Washington Post, the party was hosted by Cindy Campbell, who enlisted her brother Clive – better known as DJ Kool Herc – to provide musical entertainment. DJ Kool Herc would blend beats from older records with popular dance songs to create a continuous flow of music, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. He and other hip-hop pioneers – such as Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash – would isolate and extend the break beat, or the part of a dance song where every sound but the drums drop out. The technique proved successful, and the hip-hop sound began to grow more and more popular, eventually spreading from the predominantly Black, poverty-stricken South Bronx to other parts of the country,...

Perseids Alert: Best meteor shower of the year peaks this weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:21 GMT

The Perseids are here! With no full moon to spoil the show, all you need is a clear sky, darkness, and some patience.The annual meteor shower peaks on Saturday night and Sunday morning as the Earth passes through the dusty debris of comet Swift-Tuttle’s tail.Unlike recent years, when the Perseids peaked on a weeknight and left us bleary-eyed at work and school, this astronomical event is happening on a weekend.“It’s very nice of nature to cooperate like this,” said astronomer Andrew Fraknoi of the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco. “It’s a great courtesy on the part of the universe.”And the moon — an 8%-illuminated crescent — won’t rise until around 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, brightening the eastern sky only as dawn gets underway.Perseids’ “shooting stars” – fleeting streaks of light that spark a thrill — are bits of rock or dust particles heated to incandescence as they hurl through Earth’s atmo...

Oakland A’s call up another exciting, top hitting prospect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:21 GMT

The MLB-worst A’s turned to their future Friday in another bid to escape their dreary present-day situation, summoning 23-year-old Lawrence Butler, an electric, toolsy outfielder from Triple-A Las Vegas.Butler, the A’s No. 5-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, will make his Major League debut Friday, playing right field and batting eighth as one of five rookies in Oakland’s lineup against Washington.The A’s made room on their 26-man roster by placing utility player Tony Kemp on the paternity list.Totally Law-some night for baseball. pic.twitter.com/z4ONqgfI0Y— Oakland A's (@Athletics) August 11, 2023After Butler opened up eyes with a monstrous performance during spring training (he hit .478 with a 1.425 OPS in 12 spring games), he continued impressing A’s management during the minor league season. The left-handed hitter has slashed .284/.350/.475 with 15 home runs, 70 RBIs and 21 stolen bases in  89 games across Double-A and Triple-A.The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Butler was a sixth...

SAG-AFTRA working to cover reality stars in its contract

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:21 GMT

By Lisa Respers France | CNNSAG-AFTRA is looking to extend its contract protections to those who appear on reality shows, according to a statement provided to CNN from the union.The group, which represents performers in Hollywood, said it “has engaged in discussions with” a law firm that has been retained by “Real Housewives” star Bethenny Frankel “around the subject of treatment of reality performers.”“SAG-AFTRA is the Union that represents reality performers,” the statement continued. “Depending on the structure of the production and the performers involved, we can cover these performers under our Network Code Agreement.”SAG-AFTRA represents 160,000 performers who are currently on strike as they seek a deal that would give them better pay with regard to residuals, better working conditions and protection from encroaching artificial intelligence.Writers in Hollywood are also currently striking. Frankel, who has carved out a career as a media personality and entrepreneur since appea...

Pac-12 media rights negotiations: Multiple presidents pushed for unrealistic deal from ESPN

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:21 GMT

Do-overs? Absolutely, Kirk Schulz has a list of decisions he’d like back following the collapse of the Pac-12.The Washington State president and chair of the Pac-12 board was heavily involved in the media rights saga that spanned 13 months and ended last week in a failed effort to save the conference.“We should have had a more robust conversations about our value in the marketplace,” Schulz told the Hotline on Friday.The failure to accept market reality led the Pac-12 presidents last fall to reject an offer of $30 million per year (per school) from ESPN for the entirety of the conference’s football and men’s basketball media inventory, according to JohnCanzano.com.Instead, the presidents instructed commissioner George Kliavkoff to pursue a deal in the $50 million per-school range.“Two or three schools were interested in that number,” Schulz said. “The discussions were that we really had to close the gap on the Big Ten. The commissioner...

DOJ accuses San Jose doctor of forging, abusing opioid prescriptions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:21 GMT

SAN JOSE — A South Bay radiologist has been arrested and charged by the California Department of Justice with conspiring with a network of phony patients to write illegal prescriptions — in some instances forging another doctor’s signature — to illicitly procure thousands of opioid painkillers, authorities said.Dr. Arash Padidar, who works at a San Jose-based surgical practice, was arrested Friday and booked at the Santa Clara County Main Jail, where his initial bail was set at $100,000. He was scheduled to be arraigned in a San Jose courtroom Friday afternoon.Padidar has been charged with seven-drug related felonies that include issuing a prescription without a legitimate medical purpose, obtaining controlled substances by fraud and deceit, forging and issuing a prescription, unlawful use of personal identifying information, and conspiracy to commit a crime. Each count carries a maximum prison term of three years.“Doctors are trusted with the immense r...

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried jailed for alleged witness tampering

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:21 GMT

 (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sent to a New York jail Friday to await trial after a bail hearing for the fallen cryptocurrency wiz left a judge convinced that he had tried to influence witnesses against him.U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered Bankman-Fried’s bail revoked after prosecutors said he’d tried to harass a key witness in his fraud case. The 31-year-old had been under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, since his December extradition from the Bahamas. Bankman-Fried is charged with defrauding investors in his businesses and illegally diverting millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency from customers using his FTX exchange. Barbara Fried, mother of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, leaves after a bail hearing for her son at Manhattan Federal Court on August 11, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago /Getty Images)Last month he showed a journalist his ex-girlfriend's private writings, prosecutors said...

Jueza: Trump podrá compartir ciertos datos sobre caso de presunta intervención electoral

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:21 GMT

WASHINGTON DC – La jueza Tanya Chutkan determinó este viernes que el expresidente Donald Trump podrá compartir públicamente en redes sociales cierta información relacionada con el caso de su presunta intervención electoral, pero siempre y cuando no ponga en peligro la seguridad del país.Con esta decisión, la magistrada de la corte federal del Distrito de Columbia buscó establecer un punto medio entre las preocupaciones de los fiscales, que temen que Trump comprometa la integridad del caso al compartir información en redes sociales, y los abogados del exmandatario, quienes se oponen a cualquier límite a su libertad de expresión.“El señor Trump, al igual que cualquier otro ciudadano estadounidense, posee el derecho a la libertad de expresión consagrado en la Primera Enmienda de la Constitución. Sin embargo, este derecho no es absoluto”, enfatizó Chutkan durante la audiencia judicial. Fiscalía propone fecha para comienzo del juicio a Trump por presunta i...

Phillies slugger Harper out of the lineup day after leaving game with back spasms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:48:21 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper was out of the starting lineup Friday against Minnesota, a day after he was sidelined by mid-back spasms.Harper said before Friday’s game he did expect a long absence and that the spasms were unrelated to back pain that kept him out of games in 2021.“I felt better today. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow,” Harper said.Harper, a two-time NL MVP, said he felt the spasms early in first inning against Washington but wanted to continue to play.“I just didn’t feel like it was fair for me to come out of the game in the first,” Harper said. “I thought I could loosen it up. Just wasn’t able to get it loose to where I wanted it to be.”Alec Bohm started at first base for the Phillies on Friday night. Harper said he did not think he would be available to pinch-hit.After Harper reached for a loose ball on a grounder in the fourth against the Nationals, Harper flexed his legs and shoulders in an attempt to loosen his back. He was pu...