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Ex-New Mexico police informant headed to prison after admitting 5 bank robberies to feed addiction

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico man who confessed to five bank robberies in Albuquerque last year — including one bank he robbed twice as part of what he said were desperate attempts to feed his fentanyl addiction — has been sentenced to more than two years in prison.Jason Smeltzer, 41, made off with less than $4,000 total from the the five robberies, which took place within 6 miles (10 kilometers) of each other over five weeks in early 2022, court records show.Each time, the unarmed Albuquerque man who once served as a confidential informant for the city’s police handed notes to tellers claiming he was a vigilante helping law enforcement and asking that they “please” place bills in an envelope, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.Assistant federal public defender Dennis Candelaria had argued Smeltzer be sentenced to only 18 months in prison partly because he had no adult criminal record, a lengthy work history and was actively involved in ...

Severe weather moves through area

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

Severe weather moved through the Chicago area Friday night, prompting watches and warnings including a Tornado Warning for a portion of the night just before midnight.Latest warnings and watches from the National Weather Service.It was a hot, steamy Friday with high temps which made it into the low and mid 90s—with dew points as high as 80-deg at a number of locations. Powerhouse t-storms erupt Friday night The Chicago area was at a Level 3 risk of severe weather on the storm prediction center's 5-tier risk scale and also the risk of excessive rainfall. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here There is potential for t-storms to train---i.e. fire repeatedly over some areas---thus producing potential flooding. It appears the period from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. brackets the period in which we'll be paying particular attention. Initially, scattered gusty t-storms will grow numerous during the evening with greater than 90% prospects for thunderstorms arriving in clusters ca...

Vigil held for victims of Rancho Palos Verdes shooting

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

Family and friends gathered for a vigil Friday evening to remember a man and a woman who were murdered on July 24 in Rancho Palos Verdes. Taylor Raven Whittaker, 26, of Carson and Jorge Ramos, 36, of Willowbrook, were found shot to death in Ramos’ bullet-riddled car on the morning of July 24 in what authorities with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are investigating as a targeted attack.  The pair were in the parking lot of Pelican Cove Park, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean, in Rancho Palos Verdes.  Taylor was remembered as kind, compassionate, and full of life. "Such a free spirit, very helpful, very loving, very funny. She was such a comedian,” said Jerrica Williams, Whittaker's friend and colleague. “She was a beautiful person. She didn’t deserve this. Neither did Jorge.”Family and friends held a vigil to remember a man and a woman who were murdered on July 24 in Rancho Palos Verdes. (KTLA)“They didn’t deserve that, neither one of them," said Georgia H...

Long Beach man dead after he was ejected from car during crash 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

A man is dead after he was ejected from his car during a crash in Long Beach on Friday. Long Beach police responded to reports of someone who was injured in a traffic collision near 6th Street and Santiago Avenue. When officers arrived on the scene, they found a man who had been ejected from his vehicle, according to the Long Beach Police Department. Authorities say the driver of a 2021 Nissan Rogue, a 63-year-old Long Beach resident, was traveling southbound on Santiago Avenue on the wrong side of the road, when he hit a parked car head-on. He was ejected from the Nissan and the vehicle rolled into the front yard of a nearby residence. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Detectives believe speed may have been a factor in the crash. The driver’s identification is being withheld until his family is notified. 

The 10 most expensive homes reported sold in San Jose in the week of July 17

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

A house in San Jose that sold for $3.3 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in San Jose in the past week.In total, 32 residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $2.1 million. The average price per square foot ended up at $1,083.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of July 17 even if the property may have been sold earlier.10. $2.3 million, single-family residence in the 5600 block of Domaine DriveThe sale of the single-family residence in the 5600 block of Domaine Drive, San Jose, has been finalized. The price was $2,305,000, and the new owners took over the house in July. The house was built in 1994 and has a living area of 2,000 square feet. The price per square foot was $1,153. The house features four bedrooms and three bathrooms.Domaine Drive9. $2.4 million, single-family house in the 2300 block of Lansford AvenueThe 2,17...

Gelof, Laureano homer to back Sears in Oakland A’s win at Rockies

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

By JACK MAGRUDERDENVER — Zack Gelof and Ramon Laureano homered, JP Sears won for the second time this season and the Oakland Athletics broke a three-game losing streak with an 8-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.Shea Langeliers had a double, a triple and scored twice, Laureano had two hits and scored twice and Tony Kemp had two doubles as the major league-worst A’s pounded out 14 hits. They were 3-13 in their previous 16 games.“We followed the game plan,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “This park can get you out of the right approach, and from the onset we stayed through the middle, we stayed through the other side of the field, and you saw the results. We were able to add onto a lead, which we haven’t been able to do. Overall it was a good night.Oakland took a 7-2 lead into the eighth inning, but the Rockies closed to 7-5 on pinch-hitter Michael Toglia’s run-scoring single and Jurickson Profar’s two-run double. Lucas Erceg, Oakland’s third pitcher of the inning, go...

SF Giants waste solid start from Webb, Luciano’s first hit in loss to Red Sox

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants’ offense appeared to wake up Wednesday, and the club should have been well-rested Friday after a long-awaited day off.They must have hit the snooze button.Rookie shortstop Marco Luciano notched his first hit and scored the first run of his career, and Joc Pederson smashed a late solo shot, but the Giants didn’t manage much else Friday night to back up a bounce-back start from Logan Webb in a 3-2 loss to the Red Sox, who ran their winning streak to five games.San Francisco Giants’ Marco Luciano scores on a Michael Conforto single in the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, July 28, 2023, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) “In order to beat the best teams in baseball,” manager Gabe Kapler said, “we’re going to have to string together more walks, hits and obviously score more runs.”Pederson’s home run in the eighth, his 11th of the season, should have tied the score at 2....

Homeless encampment fire destroys woman's car in San Francisco

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A San Francisco woman is without a car after a fire from a homeless encampment destroyed it, and she is blaming city leaders and their policies.Firefighters responded to the scene Wednesday night in the city’s “Nopa” neighborhood. The woman says this experience was heartbreaking and frustrating but for reasons other than losing her car.“It’s heartbreaking,” said Linda Posage. “It makes me angry. And clearly, city hall is not making a dent in the issue.” Person, dog killed in San Pablo fire She says she has voted to make life better for San Franciscans and is not seeing that happening for many who are forced to live on the streets. She’s hoping attention to her misfortune and this situation will help bring about change to address homelessness.Posage has lived in the neighborhood for the past two years. She says people live in tents on the sidewalks where the car fire happened on Central Ave. and Fell St.She says her interactions with those people are usually ...

Mariners score 4 runs in the 1st, cruise to a 5-2 win over the sliding Diamondbacks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Nobody seems to completely be sure if the Seattle Mariners will be buyers or sellers at the rapidly approaching trade deadline, not even in their own clubhouse.Cal Raleigh hopes the team’s latest three-game winning streak has made a good impression on the front office.Raleigh and Tom Murphy hit back-to-back, two-run doubles in a four-run first, Logan Gilbert threw 6 1/3 strong innings and the Mariners beat the skidding Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2 on Friday night.“We know we want to be buyers at the deadline,” Raleigh said. “We want to compete. We want to keep going in this thing. It’s still far from over and we’ve played a lot of good baseball lately and we’ve just got to keep it going.”The Mariners have won three straight and are 8-6 since the All-Star break. It’s been a consistently mediocre season for Seattle to this point, with the team never more than three games above .500 or four games below that mark. Right now, they’re sitting...

Triston Casas homers, hits RBI double to lead Red Sox past Giants 3-2 for fifth straight win

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:42:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As a player for the Dodgers, Red Sox manager Alex Cora witnessed more than his share of towering drives over the fences by home run king Barry Bonds.Triston Casas hit a shot to left-center that Cora considered one of the best ever seen in San Francisco.“Any time I can get my name mentioned with Barry Bonds, it’s awesome,” Casas said.Moved up in the batting order, Casas homered and hit an RBI double to back Kutter Crawford, and Boston beat the Giants 3-2 on Friday night for its fifth straight win.“I played here a lot of games and I saw one of the great ones dominating from like 2000-2004,” Cora said. “That ball he hit to left-center, that’s one of the best home runs I’ve seen here and I saw many. I think I saw 500, 600, 700.”Second baseman Justin Turner delivered the defensive gem of the night to save at least one run in the seventh. He backhanded a two-hopper by pinch-hitter Blake Sabol and flipped the ball while falling to the ground to shorts...