Is a California police department sharing license plate data illegally? Some lawyers, lawmakers say yes

The day the El Cajon Police Department turned on dozens of cameras that scan the license plates of passing vehicles, the new system started getting hits.

One alert led law enforcement agencies to a vehicle that had been stolen in a Lemon Grove carjacking the week before. Two suspects were arrested.

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Shuwaski Young, the Democratic nominee for Mississippi secretary of state, will withdraw his candidacy ahead of the November general election as he battles health issues. Young had secured the Democratic nomination to take on Republican incumbent Michael Watson after running unopposed in the Aug. 8 primary election. Young says he is suffering from a “hypertensive crisis” that is being exacerbated by his busy campaign schedule. The Neshoba County native had centered his campaign around reforms that he said would make voting easier. Watson was elected secretary of state in 2019 after three terms in the state Senate.

Police officials in an Ohio suburb say officers shot and killed a pregnant woman suspected of shoplifting after she accelerated her car toward an officer trying to stop her. Twenty-one-year-old Ta’Kiya Young died Thursday in Blendon, outside Columbus. Police Chief John Belford says the officers were at a supermarket on an unrelated matter when an employee told them people were trying to flee with stolen items. One officer went to the driver’s side of Young’s car and told her to stop, while the other moved in front of the vehicle. Belford says Young accelerated forward and the officer in front of the vehicle fired one shot through the front windshield, killing her.

NFL

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has more than tripled since late June amid a small resurgence of the coronavirus as health officials prepare to push the latest version of the vaccine this fall.

Former President Donald Trump and the 18 people indicted along with him in Georgia are scheduled to be arraigned next week on charges they participated in a wide-ranging illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Fulton County court records on Monday show all 19 defendants have been scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 6, when they may enter pleas. Other defendants include former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. A Trump spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a question about whether the former president intended to waive his appearance.

As the end of her 2020 mayoral campaign neared, Sheila Dixon said she wouldn’t run for mayor again if she lost the race. Three years later, however, the former Baltimore mayor may be staging another potential comeback.

Author and TV show host Baratunde Thurston discovered nature amidst the concrete and steel of the nation's capital. “I was born in Washington, D.C., in 1977, very much a city kid who lived close enough to a park to have easy access to it,” he recalls.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has asked China to urge its citizens to halt acts of harassment, including crank calls and stone throwing at Japanese diplomatic facilities and schools, in response to Japan's release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. The discharge of the wastewater into the ocean, which began Thursday and is expected to continue for decades, has been strongly opposed by fishing groups and by neighboring countries. China immediately banned all imports of Japanese seafood. In South Korea, thousands of people joined rallies over the weekend to condemn the discharge. All seawater and fish sampling data since the release have been way below set safety limits.

The dearth of Black coaches leading major college football programs routinely draws scrutiny. This season 14 of 133 major college programs and seven of 69 Power Five conference teams will have Black head coaches. Just as notable is how drastically under-represented African-Americans are among offensive coordinators, the job mostly likely to lead to a head-coaching gig. Only seven Black coaches will be offensive coordinators at Power Five schools this season, and only nine across all of the top tier of Division I.

BLAKELY, Pa., Aug. 28, 2023 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — NEPA Builders is excited to announce that they are hosting a grand opening at their new location: 2808 Scranton Carbondale Hwy, Blakely, PA 18447 on September 9 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. They’re inviting the public to visit and meet their team …

Speaking to a ballroom full of Young Republicans, U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw urged them to embrace traditional conservatism.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will call on lawmakers to pass legislation proactively protecting key provisions in the Affordable Care Act during a speech Wednesday where she'll outline her legislative priorities for the second half of the year. Whitmer is directing that the plan include measures that prohibit insurer’s from denying or limiting coverage based on preexisting conditions and would further protect a range of no-cost preventive services. Whitmer also wants legislation that requires all insurers to cover a set of “essential” services, including ambulance services, birth control, maternity care and mental health. It comes as one of the Affordable Care Act’s most popular provisions that requires insurers to cover preventive services faces a threat in federal court.

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis urged all Florida residents to prepare for a dangerous Category 3 Hurricane Idalia that forecasters say could strike the state on Wednesday.

In the coming weeks, a Grant County judge will decide whether the criminal case against Joseph Zamora will continue, 6 1/2 years after police nearly beat him to death, or whether charges should be dropped because the prosecution is vindictive.

Kari Newell — whose role at the center of a Kansas newspaper raid has cast her as a villain — sat on the front porch of her cafe, Kari’s Kitchen, holding a cellphone full of strangers’ hate texts from across the country.

Authorities say second man has died following a weekend shooting near a Louisville, Kentucky, restaurant and bar that also injured several other people. Police Maj. Shannon Lauder says officers arrived at the scene in downtown Louisville around 3 a.m. and found a man dead and five people who had been wounded. Mayor Craig Greenberg says one of the wounded — a man — later died at a hospital. According to news reports, the other four people who were wounded suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and man who wasn’t shot was hurt in a fall. Police haven't arrested anyone, and Lauder urged anyone with information to come forward. The shooting occurred outside the Southern Restaurant & Lounge in the city’s downtown area.

Florida officials are warning drivers of “potentially widespread fuel contamination” impacting gas stations across the state's west coast as residents brace for Tropical Storm Idalia’s expected landfall later this week. In a Sunday alert, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said that gas purchased after 10 a.m. Saturday at impacted Citgo-supplied stations had a “strong likelihood” of being contaminated with diesel fuel. Citgo later identified 29 affected stations. The contamination was caused by “human error,” the department said. Contaminated gasoline and diesel can lead to engine damage or cause cars to not function properly, Florida officials note. And, especially as Idalia nears the state, some worry about drivers becoming stranded.

New Jersey police killed a man they say charged at them with a knife in Jersey City.

Florida could see an even stronger hurricane this week than initially predicted, bringing dangerous winds and life-threatening storm surge to much of the state’s Gulf coast.

A new study says Alexa, Siri and other voice assistants could do a better job giving instructions on CPR to help bystanders respond in emergencies. Researchers asked voice assistants questions that might be posed by someone witnessing a cardiac arrest. Many of the responses from the voice assistants were some version of “I don't know” or “I don't understand.” Some sent users to web pages where they could learn about CPR. The researchers say that's not enough and that the tech industry should work with the medical community to standardize responses to CPR questions.

A scientific study published Monday projects that over half of Europe’s ski resorts will face a severe lack of snow if temperatures rise 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while nearly all would be by an increase of 4 degrees — presenting challenges for the tourism industry and policymakers, and threatening a cold reality for ski lovers. In the paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the team of experts warns that a common solution — production of artificial snow – would only partially offset the decline and would involve processes like snow blowers that generate more of the same greenhouse gases that are heating up the globe in the first place.

Gov. Ron DeSantis reinstated Florida’s affordable housing director on Friday, a month after he was suspended pending the outcome of an inspector general investigation.

Paris has one year to go before hosting the Paralympic Games and is faced with a significant challenge: the accessibility of its public transit. It only has one subway line totally accessible out of 16. The Paralympics start on Aug. 28, 2024, and the city is under pressure to find solutions. Both the Games’ organizers and wheelchair-bound athletes see the Paris Paralympics as an opportunity to bring about durable change. Former wheelchair tennis gold medalist Michael Jérémiasz said the Paralympics will be an exciting celebration but afterwards, ‘’life and the constraints of daily life take over.”

Hundreds of thousands of revelers have packed the streets of west London for the climax of the Notting Hill Carnival, one of the world’s biggest celebrations of Caribbean music and culture. Organizers say up to 2 million people are expected to attend the two=day festival billed as Europe’s largest street party. Launched in 1964 with a few Trinidadian steel bands, it has grown into a huge annual event. There are colorful floats, thousands of calypso dancers in spectacular feathered costumes, almost 20 steel bands and more than two dozen sound systems. The carnival returned to the streets last year after two years when it had to be held online because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The head of Sudan’s army has made a rare public speech in his first tour outside of the capital since the conflict erupted in mid-April. In the eastern coastal city of Port Sudan, Burhan said Tuesday a large military operation enabled him to leave the capital’s army headquarters. The headquarters, where Burhan has purportedly been stationed since April, has been one of the epicenters of the conflict. Burhan said no agreement had been reached with the RSF or any other group to facilitate his departure. He said two people were killed in the military operation.

TORONTO & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 28, 2023--

A medical rescue helicopter has crashed near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, leaving two people injured. The Broward Sheriff’s Office said one of its fire-rescue helicopters crashed near the Pompano Beach Airpark on Monday morning. In a statement, the office said two people were hurt. It did not give their conditions or names. Further details were not immediately released. A photo posted online shows flames coming from the midsection of the helicopter as it is trailed by a long plume of smoke.

LaToya Watkins has surpassed the high bar set by her debut novel in her latest book, a collection of short stories titled “Holler, Child.” With a focus on Black lives and heavily rooted in west Texas where the author grew up, the 11 fictional pieces form a profound collection. Watkins draws on societal truths and the reader’s empathy to form the solid foundation beneath each story. Donna Edwards of The Associated Press says each voice brings something special, and every narrative is hard-hitting yet tender. “Holler, Child” is scheduled for release on Tuesday from Tiny Reparations Books.

American Airlines is drawing the largest fine ever keeping passengers on delayed flights without giving them a chance to leave the plane. The U.S. Department of Transportation said Monday it fined American $4.1 million for more than three dozen violations of the so-called tarmac-delay rules, which took effect about a decade ago. The government says its investigation shows that from 2018 through 2021, American kept 43 domestic flights stuck on the ground for at least three hours without giving passengers the chance to deplane.

The mother of the Spanish football federation president under fire for kissing a player during the Women’s World Cup awards ceremony has started a hunger strike in a church in southern Spain in defense of her son. Ángeles Béjar, mother of suspended federation president Luis Rubiales, told the Spanish state news agency EFE on Monday she would remain on hunger strike until a solution is found to the treatment of her son. Speaking to reporters outside the church in the southern town of Motril, Rubiales’ cousin, Vanessa Ruiz, joined the mother in calling on the player, Jenni Hermoso, to rectify and tell the truth. The kiss was interpreted by many as sexual abuse. FIFA provisionally suspended Rubiales on Saturday after he gave a defiant speech and refused to resign.

Germany’s rail workers will not go on open-ended strikes after less than 50% of union members voted for all-out strike action. A vote of 75% in favor would have been necessary. The ballot was preceded by months of so-called “warning strikes,” lasting for hours or days, a common tactic in German wage negotiations. The German news agency dpa says a majority of workers also voted in favor of an offer from arbitration. Under the compromise deal, workers will receive a pay increase of 410 euros a month in two stages over 25 months. They'll also receive an inflation compensation bonus of 2,850 euros in October.

Four children died in a group of migrants off the Greek island of Lesvos after they tried to cross the sea from neighboring Turkey.

New Yorkers are pumping the brakes now that speed cameras are always watching the city that never sleeps.

Celebrities having birthdays during the week of Sept. 3-9 include comedian Jeff Foxworthy, singer Beyonce’ and actor Idris Elba. Actor Whitney Cummings turns 41, comedian Kyle Mooney from “Saturday Night Live” hits 39 and actor Rosie Perez reaches 59. Other celebs with big days include actor Justina Machado, actor Anika Noni Rose and musician-producer Dave Stewart from Eurythmics. Actor Hugh Grant hits 63, jazz singer Michael Bublé reaches 48 and actor Michelle Williams of “Brokeback Mountain” turns 43. Birthdays wishes are also on tap for singer Pink, actor Martin Freeman of ″The Hobbit,” actor-comedian Adam Sandler and model Rachel Hunter.

Donald Trump’s standing in the Republican presidential primary race dropped slightly in a poll taken after he skipped his party’s first debate and was booked in a Georgia jail on felony charges, although he remains the frontrunner.

As Hurricane Hilary barreled toward Southern California last week, the storm made international news as forecasters warned of the possibility for life-threatening and catastrophic flooding from heavy rains, especially in the mountains and deserts.

Some of the most widely used drugs in the U.S. may be heading for lower prices under Medicare, a move that could save taxpayers billions of dollars and squeeze profits for big pharmaceutical companies.

Tourists were initially urged to stay away from the Hawaiian island of Maui in the immediate wake of a wildfire that killed at least 115 people and devastated the historic town of Lahaina.

Members of a Canadian First Nation have held a spiritual ceremony at a Scottish museum to begin the homeward journey of a totem pole stolen almost a century ago. The 11-meter (36-foot) pole is being restored by the National Museum of Scotland to the Nisga’a Nation in northern British Columbia. It is one of the first times a British museum has returned artifacts to North America’s Indigenous peoples. Chief Earl Stephens, whose Nisga’a name is Sim’oogit Ni’isjoohl, said that “after nearly 100 years, we are finally able to bring our dear relative home to rest on Nisga’a lands." The pole will be flown to Canada on an Canadian air force plane before going on display at the Nisga’a Museum.

Poland and the Baltic nations called on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to expel Russian mercenaries from his country and agreed on a plan to potentially shut the border in response to escalating tension.