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The Air Force said its nuclear missile capsules were safe. But toxins lurked, documents show

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:43 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A large pool of dark liquid festering on the floor. No fresh air. Computer displays that would overheat and ooze out a fishy-smelling gel that nauseated the crew. Asbestos readings 50 times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s safety standards. These are just some of the past toxic risks that were in the underground capsules and silos where Air Force nuclear missile crews have worked since the 1960s. Now many of those service members have cancer. The toxins were recorded in hundreds of pages of documents dating back to the 1980s that were obtained by The Associated Press through Freedom of Information Act requests. They tell a far different story from what Air Force leadership told the nuclear missile community decades ago, when the first reports of cancer among service members began to surface: “The workplace is free of health hazards,” a Dec. 30, 2001, Air Force investigation found.“Sometimes, illnesses tend to occur by chance alone,” a follow-up 200...

Ex-student found competent to stand trial for stabbing deaths near University of California, Davis

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:43 GMT

DAVIS, Calif. (AP) — A former college student accused of stabbing two people to death and wounding a third in Northern California was found competent to stand trial, a prosecutor said Thursday.Carlos Reales Dominguez will return to court on Jan. 5 and criminal proceedings will be reinstated if there isn’t any challenge to his mental state, according to Yolo County assistant chief deputy district attorney Melinda Aiello, the Sacramento Bee reported. Dominguez had been a third-year student at the University of California, Davis majoring in biological sciences until April 25, when he was expelled for academic reasons. Stabbings near campus began shortly after. He is charged in the deaths of a 50-year-old homeless man and a 20-year-old UC Davis student. A homeless woman who was attacked in her tent survived. The attacks terrified the community. Businesses closed early and some students were too scared to attend even daytime classes as their parents pleaded with them to return home...

For transgender youth in crisis, hospitals sometimes compound the trauma

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:43 GMT

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Four days of waiting in UNC Hospitals’ psychiatric emergency room left Callum Bradford desperate for an answer to one key question.With knots in his stomach, the transgender teen asked: “Will I be placed in a girls’ unit?”Yes.The answer provoked one of the worst anxiety attacks Callum had ever experienced. Sobbing into the hospital phone, he informed his parents, who fought to reverse the decision they warned would cause their son greater harm.Although they succeeded in blocking the transfer, the family had few options when a second overdose landed Callum back in UNC’s emergency room a few months later. When the 17-year-old learned he was again scheduled to be sent to a girls’ inpatient ward, he told doctors the urge to hurt himself was becoming uncontrollable. The exchange is documented in hospital records given by the family to The Associated Press.“I had an immense amount of regret that I had even come to that hospital, because I knew that I wasn’t ...

Perspective: Children born poor have little margin for mistakes or bad decisions, regardless of race

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:43 GMT

ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana (AP) — Alfred King was lying in the parking lot of a small apartment building, mortally wounded when police in Alexandria, Louisiana got to the intersection of 12th and Magnolia streets shortly before 1:30 a.m., January 20.The 34-year-old was the first fatal shooting of the year in the small city where I grew up and a large portion of my family lives.Alfred’s death was similar to some I have covered since my first in 1985, a 38-year period when hundreds of thousands of people of all races and ethnicities have died violently in the U.S. I know the details of too many of those incidents, from school shootings to a drug hit in a phone booth. I’ve heard the scream of a mom coming home from work and seeing her son in the street, encircled by yellow police tape. I’ve watched more than one mother gently touch the face of her teen-age son then close the lid on the casket.Some stories are burned into memory, like the Washington, DC teenager who asked h...

Maui’s economy needs tourists. Can they visit without compounding wildfire trauma?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:43 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — The restaurant where Katie Austin was a server burned in the wildfire that devastated Hawaii’s historic town of Lahaina this summer.Two months later, as travelers began to trickle back to nearby beach resorts, she went to work at a different eatery. But she soon quit, worn down by constant questions from diners: Was she affected by the fire? Did she know anyone who died?“You’re at work for eight hours and every 15 minutes you have a new stranger ask you about the most traumatic day of your life,” Austin said. “It was soul-sucking.”Hawaii’s governor and mayor invited tourists back to the west side of Maui months after the Aug. 8 fire killed at least 100 people and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings. They wanted the economic boost tourists would bring, particularly heading into the year-end holidays.But some residents are struggling with the return of an industry requiring workers to be attentive and hospitable even though they are trying to c...

A tax increase, LGBTQ+ youth protections and more sick leave highlight California’s new laws in 2024

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:43 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Doctors in California who mail abortion pills to patients in other states will be protected from prosecution. Workers will receive more paid sick leave on the heels of a big year for labor. And companies can’t fire employees for using marijuana outside of work. These are among the hundreds of laws that take effect Jan. 1 in the nation’s most populous state.Each year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs hundreds of laws passed by the state Legislature. Most take effect Jan. 1 the following year. But sometimes lawmakers will delay a law’s effective date for a variety of reasons, including giving people more time to prepare for the new rules.Some of the highest-profile bills passed by the Legislature in 2023 will not take effect until later. Fast food workers will get a minimum wage increase to $20 per hour on April 1. Health care workers are scheduled to see the first increases in their minimum wage on June 1. Laws requiring businesses to rep...

Suspects ransack Orange County home, escaping with $130,000 worth of items

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:43 GMT

Surveillance video captured two suspects ransacking a Santa Ana home and escaping with around $130,000 in cash and jewelry.The burglary happened on Dec. 22 at a home on the 4000 block of W. Mary Circle around 8:45  a.m., according to the Santa Ana Police Department.The suspects approached the home shortly after the homeowners had left for work.Security video shows a masked female suspect knocking at the victim’s front door. Meanwhile, a male suspect forced his way into the residence through a bathroom window at the back of the house, police said.While inside, the suspects ransacked all the bedrooms and stole around $130,000 worth of cash, jewelry, and a medium-sized safe.They were seen quickly loading the stolen goods into the trunk of a silver Kia Sorento SUV before driving away. 3 arrested after stolen Maserati found being stripped in downtown L.A. Surveillance video captured two suspects ransacking a Santa Ana home and escaping with around $130,000 in cash, jewelry along w...

Sharks rookie goalie put in difficult spot in first NHL start

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:43 GMT

SAN JOSE — A little less than a year ago, goalie Magnus Chrona was starting his second game in as many days for the University of Denver. He went on to make 25 saves on Jan. 7, helping the Pioneers earn a 7-2 non-conference win over Alaska-Fairbanks.Thursday, Chrona found himself in a completely different world. He was making his first career NHL start, and within the first few seconds of the opening puck drop, saw Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid come barreling into the San Jose Sharks zone with a full head of steam.The Oilers scored on that opening shift — and continued to pour it on against the rookie goaltender and a reeling and fragile Sharks team.Chrona allowed four goals on 11 shots — not all his fault — before he was mercifully pulled, as Kaapo Kahkonen played the final two periods in what became a 5-0 loss to the Oilers before an announced sellout crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.The Sharks put xx shots toward Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner but were...

Warriors drubbed by depleted Heat to begin home stand

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:43 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO —Steve Kerr and Erik Spoelstra grew close over the summer, traveling to the Philippines to coach the USA national team in the FIBA World Cup. They swapped stories, enjoyed bus rides and grabbed beers.It was clear which head coach had the upper hand on Thursday night in the Chase Center, and it wasn’t the one still searching for his best lineups.Spoelstra’s squad threw zones, full-court pressures and traps at Golden State. The Heat snatched the ball from the Warriors and took care of it. They bottled up Steph Curry, were first to 50/50 balls and forced the Warriors into 42% field goal shooting and 24.2% from deep. Golden State stepped on the baseline, lost dribbles, and threw errant passes en route to a pile of early turnovers.Despite playing a Heat team without star Jimmy Butler and rotation players Caleb Martin, Josh Richardson and Kyle Lowry, the Warriors led in the early minutes of the second quarter but never again.To start a seven-game home stand, the Warriors (15...

Prep roundup: St. Patrick-St. Vincent grounds high-flying Fremont-Oakland at Damian Lillard Classic

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:43 GMT

 St. Patrick-St. Vincent 74, Fremont Oakland 45Christian Trusclair had just splashed one 3-pointer to give St. Patrick-St. Vincent a double-digit lead when he found himself open on the next possession in the third quarter. The 6-foot-2 sniper didn’t hesitate on his second attempt either, letting it fly before watching the ball rip through the net. That pushed SPSV’s lead over Fremont-Oakland to 15, and the rout was on as the Bruins began to run away with the 74-45 victory in the Damian Lillard Classic at Oakland HS. “My teammates set me up to be in those positions,” said Trusclair, who ended the night with 23 points. “We came out there and got the job done.”Fremont only trailed 31-25 at halftime thanks to the individual brilliance and scoring arsenal of Jaylen Wheeler, the Salesian transfer who scored 17 of his game-high 28 in the first half. Wheeler was comfortable making pull-up triples, slashing into space for floaters and stopping on a dime for midrange shots at the elbow. “He w...