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Michael Jackson sexual abuse lawsuits on verge of revival by California appeals court

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

BY ANDREW DALTON | Associated PressLOS ANGELES  — A California appeals court on Wednesday will consider reviving the dismissed lawsuits of two men who allege Michael Jackson sexually abused them as children for years, a move the court appears likely to make after a tentative decision that would order the cases back to a lower court for trial.The suits were filed after Jackson’s 2009 death by Wade Robson in 2013 and James Safechuck the following year. The two men became more widely known for telling their stories in the 2019 HBO documentary, “Leaving Neverland.”Both sued MJJ Productions Inc. and MJJ Ventures Inc., two corporations for which Jackson was the sole owner and lone shareholder.In 2021, Superior Court Judge Mark A. Young ruled that the two corporations and their employees had no legal duty to protect Robson and Safechuck from Jackson and threw out the suits. But in a tentative decision last month, California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal reversed that judge and ordered the...

Covered California health insurance premiums will go up next year, but many consumers won’t feel it

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

BY ADAM BEAM | Associated PressSACRAMENTO — Monthly health insurance premiums for roughly 1.7 million people in California will go up an average of 9.6% next year — the largest increase in five years — but state officials said many consumers won’t feel those hikes because taxpayers will pay for them.The federal Affordable Care Act lets people who don’t get health insurance from their job buy coverage from a marketplace. Most states let the federal government run their marketplaces for them. But California runs its own marketplace called Covered California.Monthly premiums on plans purchased through Covered California were stable throughout the pandemic, increasing an average of just over 1% per year from 2020 through 2022 as many people delayed routine health care. But this year, rates jumped 5.6% in California as people started returning to doctor’s offices.State officials blamed next year’s increase on a variety of factors, including inflation, higher pharmacy costs and labor shor...

Single-family home in Pleasanton sells for $1.7 million

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

7674 Chestnut Way – Google Street ViewA 1,586-square-foot house built in 1975 has changed hands. The property located in the 7600 block of Chestnut Way in Pleasanton was sold on June 14, 2023, for $1,650,000, or $1,040 per square foot. The layout of this single-story home includes three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Inside, a fireplace adds character to the home. In addition, the house features a two-car garage. The lot size of the property measures an impressive 7,982 square feet.Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby:A 2,003-square-foot home on the 7800 block of Knollbrook Drive in Pleasanton sold in September 2022, for $1,550,000, a price per square foot of $774. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Mount Tam Circle, Pleasanton, in August 2022, a 2,792-square-foot home was sold for $2,150,000, a price per square foot of $770. The home has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.In July 2022, a 2,954-square-foot home on Mount Tam Circle in Pleasanton sold for $2,350,000, a p...

Turning 100: What living longer means to an aging population

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

By Helen Dennis | Southern California News GroupQ. I recently have read a lot about living to be 100. It seems that it’s close to becoming a reality. It sounds good but I have some concerns. What are your thoughts on this topic?Indeed, we are hearing a lot about living to be 100 with feature stories about centenarians’ secrets in living a long life. We learn about diets, life extension and research on interventions that may impede or reverse aging and extend longevity. There is the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University and the Longevity Genes Project at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Add to that the Gerontology Research Group meeting at UCLA tracking the oldest living people and the Blue Zones project studying the lifestyle habits of the longest-lived folks on the planet. In the U.S. there are about 90,000 centenarians who are 100 years or older, which is nearly twice as many as there were 20 years ago. In California, that number is 8,000. Furthermore, about h...

Bay Area tech layoffs: LinkedIn cuts nearly 200 jobs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- In the latest round of Bay Area tech layoffs, LinkedIn announced that it will be cutting nearly 200 jobs locally. According to a WARN filing with the California Employment Development Department, the job site will be laying off 187 employees from three Bay Area locations. Court rejects San Francisco’s towing policy LinkedIn Corporation will be cutting 102 jobs at its Sunnyvale facility, 72 in San Francisco, and 13 at its headquarters in Mountain View. The filing with EDD was submitted on June 21 with an effective date of July 24.The job cuts are permanent, according to the WARN notice. This week's layoffs at LinkedIn follow job cuts earlier this year that saw the company cut 700 jobs. LinkedIn's job cuts are the latest in an ongoing series of layoffs that have roiled the Bay Area tech industry. Recently, Bay Area tech job cuts were announced at Microsoft, Sumo Logic, Inc. and Intel Corporation.

The Americans dominated their Women's World Cup opener. They face a tougher task against the Dutch

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — The United States and the Netherlands meet again on the Women's World Cup stage — with smaller stakes than the 2019 title game won by the Americans — and the Dutch team collecting injuries at a terrible time of the tournament.The Netherlands will most likely be without forward Lineth Beerensteyn, who was hurt early in her team's 1-0 victory over Portugal to open the tournament, when they play the Americans on Thursday in New Zealand's capital city of Wellington.The Americans are the two-time reigning World Cup champions and Netherlands coach Andries Jonker said on the eve of the match "we would need a miracle” for Beerensteyn to be ready to play. Former Stanford goalkeeper in US players’ hearts at the Women’s World Cup ”And if that doesn’t happen, then she won’t participate," he said.The Netherlands came to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand already missing leading scorer Vivianne Miedema, who ruptured her ACL while playing...

Review: Boots Riley still not sorry to bother you in absurdist comedy ‘I’m a Virgo’ on Amazon Prime

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

Carmen Ejogo and Jharrel Jerome appear in "I'm a Virgo."(Amazon Studios) Carmen Ejogo and Jharrel Jerome appear in "I'm a Virgo."(Amazon Studios) toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley reviews 'I'm a Virgo' on Amazon Prime Video (Part 1) $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file')...

White House nominates Allvin as next Air Force chief

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has nominated a career air mobility pilot with key deployments in Afghanistan and Europe to serve as the Air Force’s next top general. In a notice to Congress posted Wednesday, the White House nominated Gen. David W. Allvin to serve as the service’s next chief of staff. In his long career, which includes more than 4,600 hours flying military aircraft, Allvin has commanded units leading NATO’s air training and combat operations in Afghanistan, he’s led air strategy in Europe and he’s overseen all global air mobility operations, responsible for a fleet of more than 1,000 aircraft that fuel, transport and supply troops around the globe. If confirmed, Allvin would replace outgoing Gen. CQ Brown, who was tapped by the White House to serve as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Allvin was seen as a frontrunner for the position, having served most recently as the vice chief of staff of the Air Force. Allvin’s nomination joins hundreds of oth...

Panthers name No. 1 pick Bryce Young team’s Week 1 starting QB vs. Falcons

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have their QB1.Coach Frank Reich wasted no time naming rookie Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, the starting quarterback for the team’s Sept. 10 regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.“When we decided to pick Bryce we imagined and saw the vision that we would be standing here today saying he is the QB1,” Reich said Wednesday.The announcement came after the completion of the Young’s first training camp practice at Wofford College, although the news seemed imminent after he took over first-team reps from veteran Andy Dalton during organized team activities in June.Young, a two-year starter at Alabama and the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, will become the first rookie to start a season opener for the Panthers since Cam Newton in 2021. Newton was also a No. 1 pick and went on to earn league MVP honors for the 2015 season.Reich vowed to be patient as Young develops as a rookie.“We want to keep our expectatio...

Typhoon Doksuri leaves at least 6 dead and displaces thousands in the northern Philippines

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Typhoon Doksuri lashed northern Philippine provinces with ferocious wind and rain Wednesday, leaving at least six people dead and displacing thousands of others as it blew roofs off houses, flooded low-lying villages and triggered dozens of landslides, officials said.One landslide buried a house in Buguias town in Benguet province, killing a mother, her child and two other children and injuring two other people. In the nearby resort city of Baguio, a 17-year-old person died when soil loosened by heavy rains buried his house, officials said.In Isabela province, also in the north, a woman selling bread on a bicycle cart died when she was hit in the head by a falling coconut tree, a police report said.The typhoon slammed into Fuga Island before dawn and later smashed into another island in Cagayan province, where nearly 16,000 people were evacuated from high-risk coastal villages, and schools and workplaces were shut as a precaution as the storm approached Tu...