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New cars are supposed to be getting safer. So why are fatalities on the rise?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:55:50 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Alyssa Milligan was someone who intuitively knew when another person needed help, encouragement or a kind word. Although she was new to Tennessee, the 23-year old physical therapy student, whose mother called her “Sweet Alyssa,” had already made many close connections, especially within the tight-knit cycling community around Nashville — before she was killed this month, struck by a pickup truck while cycling with a friend.Roadway deaths in the U.S. are mounting despite government test data showing vehicles have been getting safer. While the number of all car-related fatalities has trended upward over the last decade, pedestrians and cyclists have seen the sharpest rise: over 60% between 2011 and 2022.It coincides with a steep increase in sales of SUVs, pickup trucks and vans, which accounted for 78% of new U.S. vehicle sales in 2022, according to Motorintelligence.com.Current U.S. ratings only consider the safety of the people inside the vehicle. The Nationa...

Philadelphia officer to contest murder charges over fatal shooting during traffic stop

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:55:50 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Lawyers for a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver will press to have murder and other charges lodged against him dismissed when the jailed officer appears in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday. Officer Mark Dial is also charged with manslaughter, official oppression and four other counts in connection with the Aug. 14 death of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry. Dial’s bail was revoked earlier this month after prosecutors argued the charges made him ineligible for release.Police bodycam footage shows Dial firing his weapon at close range through the driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan during a vehicle stop. Dial shot Irizarry about seven seconds after getting out of a police SUV and walking over to his car, the video showed. He fired a total of six rounds.Defense lawyers call the shooting justified. They said the officer, also 27, thought Irizarry had a gun. The bodycam footage shows the driver holding a knife by his right leg. “When ...

New report: Keep the small fish plentiful to ensure ocean health

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:55:50 GMT

Only one in six forage fish populations in the Northeast Atlantic is both sustainably exploited and in a healthy state, according to a report published by Oceana. The marine conservation organisation is urging Northeast Atlantic countries to improve their management of these small fish, in advance of negotiations on fishing limits later this year.Many marine species – from marine mammals and seabirds to commercially important fish – depend on forage fish such as sandeel, sprat, and herring as a primary source of food.However, Northeast Atlantic countries are fishing them at unsustainable levels. Of the 32 forage fish populations analysed in Oceana’s report, only a fraction (16% or 5 populations) is both sustainably exploited and in a healthy state. The rest are either subject to overfishing, at worryingly low abundance levels, or their state is unknown due to data limitations.Oceana in Europe Deputy Vice President Vera Coelho said: “The poor state of these fish populations shows tha...

Traffic at stand still after pursuit ends in crash on 605 freeway

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:55:50 GMT

A pursuit suspect in a possibly stolen vehicle who was wanted for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer crashed on the 605 Freeway in Irwindale Monday night and was taken into custody.  Officers with the Bell Gardens Police Department initiated the chase, which was traveling in northbound lanes of the 605 Freeway when the suspect somehow lost control of the vehicle and the crash occurred, just north of the 210 Freeway.  Officers with the California Highway Patrol arrived on the scene to assist Bell Gardens PD.  Initially, the suspect refused to surrender to authorities. He then jumped out of the vehicle and attempted to flee police on foot before being taken into custody.  Traffic backed up on the northbound 605 Freeway in Irwindale after a pursuit suspect crashed on Sept. 25, 2023. (KTLA)A pursuit suspect crashed on the 605 Freeway in Irwindale on Sept. 25, 2023. (KTLA)CHP and first responders of the scene of a pursuit that ended in a crash on the 605 Fre...

L.A. model fears for her safety after deaths of 2 models

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:55:50 GMT

As authorities investigate the mysterious deaths of two models in downtown Los Angeles, a third model living in the area is frightened and worried about her own safety. Brittany Mason, 26, a successful model working in the fashion and beauty industries, lives at Skye at Bunker Hill luxury apartments on Figueroa street, the same complex where model and real estate agent Maleesa Mooney was brutally killed. She wants to move as soon as possible, but says the landlord is refusing to cooperate. Mason says she doesn’t feel safe after the murder of Mooney in her apartment on September 12. She says she’s seen people sleeping in the stairwells and other activity in the complex that makes her uncomfortable. "Initially, the unit across from me, people were subleasing it so I was seeing different people coming in and out every day and the other thing was, at one point, people were having big parties and there were tons of men coming through here,” she said. According to Mason, th...

Westside residents hit by string of car burglaries

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:55:50 GMT

A series of window-shattering car burglaries in Brentwood and Marina Del Rey have many residents in the area wondering if it might be the same thief or thieves committing the crimes.  Barns Lau and Jas Singh live several miles apart, but both were victims of car burglaries overnight. Singh, a resident of Brentwood parked her Mercedes outside her apartment on Federal Avenue, near Wilshire, around midnight.  “I wake up like normal Monday at like 5:30 a.m. and go to work at 6 a.m. I’m walking to my car, and I realize the door was open,” she told KTLA’s Omar Lewis. Shirtless man in golf cart leads police on chase The Brentwood resident said she then realized other cars on the street had also been broken into. “You can actually see the trails of glass over 10 cars maybe,” she added.  Car after car was broken into with windows smashed in and belongings stolen. Nearly a dozen cars were broken into overnight on Sept. 25, 2023, in Marina Del Rey and Brentwood as they w...

NorCal school district responds to allegations of teacher assaulting 5-year-old autistic student

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:55:50 GMT

(FOX40.COM) -- During a public call to action on Monday Folsom Cordova Unified School District responded to a parent who said a teacher physically assaulted her 5-year-old nonverbal autistic son at Williamson Elementary School.In a post shared on Facebook on Sept. 21, Ebone McNeal said that she was notified by the superintendent of the district that her son was physically assaulted by his teacher on Sept. 11. FCUSD teacher accused of assaulting a special needs student “I was told she was performing an illegal restraint on him and she struck him across his face. This was reported by the aide 2 days later,” the parent said. “Nothing was immediately reported as required by law. So my son was subjected to being around this abuser for multiple days after she harmed him.”Since learning of the alleged assault, McNeal said she pulled her son out of the school and won't be bringing him back. After not receiving sufficient information from FCUSD about what happened to her son, she said she ...

Polish government whips up hate against director over migrant film

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:55:50 GMT

WARSAW — Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has launched a vitriolic campaign against acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland for making a harrowing film that centers on how Poland handles — and maltreats — migrants trying to cross its border with Belarus.In a febrile pre-election atmosphere, Holland has faced such an onslaught of invective from PiS leader (and Poland’s de-facto ruler) Jarosław Kaczyński, the president, the prime minister, justice minister and other top officials that she’s paying a security company to protect her. In one of the more caustic attacks, President Andrzej Duda described her film as “anti-Polish.” He then went on to quote a protesting border guard union that used a World War II resistance slogan leveled against Poles who went to see Nazi propaganda films: “Only pigs sit in theaters.”“I’m not afraid but I’m not stupid, either,” Holland told POLITICO, referring to her need for protection. “They’re fueling hate and ...

Human trafficking survivor shares experience during town hall meeting

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:55:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego is ranked among the 13 worst human trafficking hotspots in the United States by the FBI. Supervisor Jim Desmond held a virtual town hall meeting on human trafficking Monday night to discuss what every parent should know about when it comes to human trafficking.Up to 8,000 children fall victim to trafficking in San Diego County every single year, with the average age being 16 years old.“A lot of trafficking happens between 12 and 16 years old,” said survivor Keelin Washington, who also joined the town hall meeting to share her insight along with District Attorney Summer Stephan and Geanie Franco, Commander of the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force.“Knowledge is power,” Stephan said. “Predators thrive on ignorance. Knowledge saves lives.” 17 Hells Angels members indicted after violent attack in Ocean Beach Officials say young boys are often targeted in game rooms and social media is where many perpetrators find their victims.“Don’t share private informatio...

German police raid premises across the country in connection with migrant smuggling

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:55:50 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — More than 350 German federal police searched premises across the country early Tuesday in connection with smuggling of migrants early on Tuesday.The focus of the raids was on cities and towns in northern and western Germany but also in Bavaria in the south, German news agency dpa reported.Police executed five arrest warrants, three in the northern town of Stade and two in the western town of Gladbeck. Inside the searched apartments and other buildings, police discovered many migrants without residence permits, dpa reported.The raids were ordered by federal police at Frankfurt airport on suspicion of gang and commercial smuggling of foreigners, German news agency dpa reported.The Associated Press