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Report: Former Austin Parks employee falsified timecards, received $11K in unearned wages

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:29 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new investigative report released from the City of Austin's Office of the City Auditor found a former Parks and Recreation Department employee fraudulently collected $11,000 after falsifying time cards for six months.Now-former PARD employee Desarae Ybarra submitted timesheets for hours she didn't work between June and December 2021, per the auditor report. She began working at PARD as an IT geospatial technician in March 2021 and "was responsible for updating tree inventory data across 300 public parks" in the city, per the report.Joshua Erickson, an environmental conservation program manager at PARD, oversees planning and directing environmental conservation program strategies, while Kirsten Schneider is an environmental program coordinator and reports to Erickson.Per the report, "Ybarra became Erickson's direct report due to management vacancies at PARD" in July 2021. Erickson designated Schneider to assist him in overseeing Ybarra's work and approving her times...

Twins to remain on Bally Sports North through end of season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:29 GMT

BALTIMORE — Bally Sports North will continue to broadcast Twins games through the end of this season, an industry source confirmed, after a period of uncertainty as to whether the station’s parent company, Diamond Sports Group, would commit to making a payment for the second half of the season.The Twins were owed two payments totaling $54.8 million from Diamond, which is going through bankruptcy proceedings, for the rights to telecast their games this season. The latter payment was due at the beginning of July.For fans, this news means nothing will change in the near-term as Bally Sports North will continuing broadcasting Twins games through this season.This comes after Diamond initially had only paid the Twins 75 percent of the first payment the club was owed back in April. A federal bankruptcy judge ruled in favor of the Twins and three other teams last month, requiring Diamond to pay the teams the full contract rate. The Twins subsequently received the remaining 25 percent of the...

Highest-rated ice cream shops in St. Louis, according to Yelp

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:29 GMT

Ice cream is a treat all year round, although the frequency and volume consumed during the hotter months might eclipse the colder months. The range of flavors in ice cream shops has evolved since the olden days when flavors were mainly limited to vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.The best shops nowadays offer fresh combinations and ingredients you may never have imagined could be made into ice cream. Yes, you can find your classics, but also new concoctions like black sesame cookies and cream or honey lavender. Some shops boast flavors with even more unheard-of ingredients and combinations, like the savory herb tarragon or pineapple with pink peppercorns.Ice cream creators have also expanded into rethinking frozen yogurt, soft serve, and vegan options. The dairy-free folks no longer have to order the only sorbet on the menu. There are non-dairy milk ice creams made from plant-based milks like oat or almond and other plant-based products like avocado or sunflower butter.One of the b...

Man injured after car slams into him in Pacoima 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:29 GMT

A man was hospitalized after being struck by a car in Pacoima on Sunday afternoon. According to LAPD, officers responded to the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Osborne Street around 1 p.m. for a call of a vehicle striking a pedestrian. The victim, described only as a 30-year-old male, suffered an injury to his leg but was conscious and breathing at the scene, police said.  Thousands of L.A. County residents could lose Medi-Cal coverage after pandemic rules expire According to LAPD, officers responded to the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Osborne Street around 1 p.m. for a call of a vehicle striking a pedestrian. (Citizen App)Witnesses said that the crash may have been a result of a vehicular assault, but authorities have not yet confirmed if that is true. Video posted to the Citizen app shows first responders loading a man onto a stretcher and into an ambulance from under a blue canopy on the sidewalk. The video also shows the wrecked vehicle, a ...

Over 1,000 pounds of illegal fireworks seized in San Bernardino 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:29 GMT

Authorities in San Bernardino recently seized 1,500 pounds of illegal fireworks from two suspects. According to a tweet sent out by the San Bernardino Police Department, officers contacted two people who were believed to be selling illegal fireworks. Further investigation yielded eight boxes of illegal fireworks in the suspects’ vehicle. When police searched the home of one of the victims, they found another 200 boxes of illegal fireworks.  Both suspects were arrested on felony charges. 

Athletics’ Brent Rooker named to the 2023 All-Star team

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:29 GMT

OAKLAND — Brent Rooker concedes he is having some difficulty processing his new-found status as an American League All-Star.Rooker, 28, was the Athletics selection Sunday to the 2023 All-Star game in Seattle on the basis of a red hot start which has since tailed off into a slump for the better part of the last two months.So being included on the American League team with the likes of the Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout and the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge is pretty heady stuff.“I will feel very out of place. I promise that,” Rooker said. “I will look around the clubhouse and kind of wonder who let me in and why they let me in. But it will be a real cool feeling and I’m going to be one of the guys in that clubhouse. I am going to be the guy looking around wide-eyed and star-struck, that’s for sure.”Rooker, claimed off waivers from the Kansas City Royals last November, is the A’s leader in both home runs (13...

Electric closer Camilo Doval is SF Giants’ lone All-Star selection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:29 GMT

NEW YORK — Gabe Kapler requested Camilo Doval’s presence in his office at about 4:15 Sunday afternoon, some three hours before first pitch of their series finale against the Mets. The meeting, the Giants’ manager told him, regarded his work in the running game, an area of focus where he’s made strides this season.A few minutes later, a round of applause could be heard from outside the room. Of course the scheduled topic of discussion was but a ruse: It was All-Star selection Sunday.“They played a prank on me. They told me that they were going to talk to me about the running game,” Doval said. “I was like, ‘Really? But I’ve been doing good on the running game.’ After they talked for a little bit, they gave me the news of being selected to the All-Star game. I just felt like a little kid, really nervous, I didn’t know what to say.”Doval, the National League leader in saves (24) with a 1.89 ERA and 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings, ...

Alameda County, foster care provider to pay $3.5 million for toddler’s fatal methamphetamine overdose

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:29 GMT

Alameda County and a nonprofit foster care provider are expected to pay a $3.5 million settlement over the 2015 death of 3-year-old Mariah Mustafa, who fatally overdosed on methamphetamine after social workers overrode warnings that the child was in danger in her foster home, according to court filings.The settlement comes after attorneys for the girl’s brother said they discovered systemic failings in how county social workers investigated claims of abuse and neglect across the county’s foster care system.Reporting by the Bay Area News Group, which identified the girl as Mariah Mustafa, revealed a series of failures by the people tasked with keeping the girl safe, most notably in their decision to return Mariah to her foster home after a first overdose. The new court filings also suggest a possible cover-up by a manager for the foster care provider, aimed at keeping the girl’s exposure to methamphetamine secret, and hiding details of her foster home’s troubl...

2 people were killed and 28 wounded in mass shooting at a Baltimore block party

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:29 GMT

(CNN) — An 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man were killed and 28 others injured in a mass shooting at a Baltimore block party, officials said.All 30 of the victims had gunshot wounds, Baltimore Police Acting Commissioner Richard Worley said in a Sunday afternoon news conference. Their ages range between 13 and 32 years old, Worley added.Authorities believe roughly 14 of the victims hurt were under 18 years old, he said.Nine of those injured remained in nearby hospitals “in various conditions” Sunday afternoon, the commissioner added.Investigators continue to scour the large crime scene – which spans multiple blocks – and officials urged anyone with information or who may have captured video footage, including from security cameras, to come forward.There were “at least two” people who opened fire during the shooting, but authorities are investigating there may have been more, Worley said. Authorities have not shared information about a p...

Nick Kyrgios withdraws on eve of Wimbledon with a wrist injury. He was the runner-up last year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:29 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Nick Kyrgios pulled out of Wimbledon the night before the tournament’s start, citing a wrist injury, a year after he reached his first Grand Slam final at the All England Club.His withdrawal was announced by Wimbledon on Sunday night.Kyrgios was seeded 30th in the men’s bracket and was scheduled to face David Goffin on Monday.Kyrgios will be replaced in the field by a player who lost during qualifying.___AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource