Shasta county has one of the state’s highest rates of suicide and gun ownership. Here’s how locals are trying to combat it
Like many men in the mountainous California county of Shasta, about 200 miles north of San Francisco, Bill Rocha loved to hunt and fish, spending the infernal summers out on the lake in his boat. For decades he made his living as a contractor, working hard with his hands every day. And like many men in rural parts of the state, Bill was a gun owner. He had several hunting rifles, some of which he kept locked in a safe, and another firearm that he kept unlocked in his car.
Kelly Rocha, his daughter, described him as extremely sociable, but in private things were starting to fray. She didn’t know the extent of what her father was struggling with until she got a call one night in 2019. She had slept through two voicemails from her father’s wife, but finally picked up when her own mother called. “It was after midnight,” recalled Kelly, who was then 43. “She told me that my dad went out to his truck and killed himself.”
Continue reading...Earthquake was region’s strongest tremor in nearly 150 years and was also felt in parts of Mexico including Cancún
An earthquake on Monday off the coast of Cuba, which was that region’s strongest tremor in nearly 150 years, could be felt in Florida and parts of Mexico.
The 6.1-magnitude earthquake, which struck in the afternoon, occurred approximately 65 miles (105km) north-west of Mantua, Cuba, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS added that the earthquake had a depth of 16 miles.
Continue reading...House report alleged governor and state attorney general knew of ‘widespread taxpayer fraud’ in social programs
The US vice-president, JD Vance, asked the Department of Justice to investigate Tim Walz, his rival in the 2024 election, after a congressional report renewed allegations of inaction and retaliation over fraud schemes in Minnesota.
In the Trump administration’s latest broadside by the federal government against the midwestern state and its political leaders, Vance referred Walz, its Democratic governor, and Keith Ellison, its Democratic attorney general, for investigation.
Continue reading...Bill that passed the Senate last week would fund ICE and border patrol and is expected to pass along party lines
House Republicans on Tuesday will seek to pass a $70bn bill to fund the agencies leading Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants through the duration of his term, ending a months-long standoff with Democrats.
The Secure America Act, which passed the Senate last week, allocates $38bn to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), $26bn to Customs and Border Protection and $5bn more to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Continue reading...Reform had previously suggested Farage would be ‘steering clear’ of event, modelled on US conservative gathering
Nigel Farage will be headlining at an American conservative summit brought to the UK by Liz Truss next month alongside hard-right speakers, despite his party previously suggesting he would be “steering clear”.
The Reform UK leader has announced he will speak in July at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which claims it wants to “save Britain, save the west”.
Continue reading...Polls for Maine’s primary elections close at 8pm ET as it appears voters may be sticking with Platner despite string of controversies
Vice-president JD Vance has added a chicken coop to his residence at the US Naval Observatory, the Daily Wire reports, along with a dozen baby chicks whose new henhouse is designed to look like the Victorian home where the second family lives.
The coop was built without taxpayer money, a person familiar with the project told the Associated Press. The residence hosted a family event over the weekend where local 4-H students taught other kids about the newly installed coup, the person said.
Continue reading...Section 702 renewal stalls amid dispute over Bill Pulte’s role as acting intelligence chief and leadership vacuum
Donald Trump is reportedly set to meet with the House speaker, Mike Johnson, at the White House on Tuesday as pressure mounts on the president to nominate a permanent director of national intelligence, the step some Republicans now believe is the only way to save a controversial and powerful surveillance law before it expires by the end of the week.
At stake is section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a post-9/11 authority that allows US intelligence agencies to collect the communications of foreign targets overseas without a court warrant. While the program is intended to target non-Americans abroad, it can also sweep up communications involving Americans. This powerful and contentious spy tool is set to expire at midnight on Thursday.
Continue reading...NHS England plans to roll out Microsoft Copilot to 505,000 clinicians and support staff after a 30,000-person pilot claimed the AI assistant saved users an average of 43 minutes a day on administrative work. The Register reports: The rollout won't happen overnight. NHS England said that each trust will receive a central allocation of licenses based on headcount, typically starting with around 2,000 Copilot seats, and that more than half a million staff are expected to have access by October 2026. The NHS has no shortage of administrative work to throw at the software. The rollout envisions Copilot helping with discharge paperwork, bed management, rota planning, meeting minutes, board papers, briefings, data analysis, and assorted HR, finance, and procurement tasks. NHS organizations will also receive access to Copilot Studio, Microsoft's toolkit for building custom AI agents. NHS England said trusts will be able to develop agents for tasks such as handling Freedom of Information requests, processing complaints, reducing helpdesk workloads, and assisting with financial analysis. A governance framework called Agent 365 will oversee the deployment of those systems.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
We would like to hear from fans in New York and around the world about their reactions to the Knicks’ performance in the NBA finals
The New York Knicks are leading the NBA finals 2-1 against the San Antonio Spurs, much to the excitement of fans across the world. It’s their first appearance in the playoff finals since 1999, when they lost the best-of-seven series to the very same Texas team.
We would like to hear from New Yorkers and Knicks fans, both in the state and around the globe, about how they’re feeling in this current moment. With the Knicks doing so well after so long, how are you celebrating? Are you still optimistic despite the Spurs’ close win in Madison Square Garden on Monday? How are you feeling about the future?
Continue reading...House report said governor and state attorney general Keith Ellison were aware of ‘widespread taxpayer fraud’ in social programs
The US vice-president, JD Vance, asked the Department of Justice to investigate Tim Walz, his rival in the 2024 election, after a congressional report renewed allegations of inaction and retaliation over fraud schemes in Minnesota.
In the Trump administration’s latest broadside by the federal government against the midwestern state and its political leaders, Vance referred Walz, its Democratic governor, and Keith Ellison, its Democratic attorney general, for investigation.
Continue reading...Spurs had 24-8 free-throw advantage in second half
Towns: Officiating didn’t cost us the game
San Antonio took 2-1 lead with Game 3 win
Knicks coach Mike Brown had harsh words for the officials about what he characterized as inconsistent foul calls in New York’s 115-111 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the NBA finals.
The Spurs took 24 free throws to the Knicks’ eight in the second half Monday night at Madison Square Garden. Fourteen of San Antonio’s attempts came in the third quarter, when New York took just three. In the final period, frustrations boiled over: the Knicks were whistled three times in the opening 64 seconds, and within three minutes they were in the bonus.
Continue reading...National average gas price stands at about $4.16 per gallon as Americans grapple with price hikes sparked by the war
Donald Trump has claimed US fuel prices are “not very high, relatively speaking” as his administration grapples with affordability concerns after the surge in costs sparked by his war on Iran.
The national average gas price stood at about $4.16 per gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA – $0.37 lower than a month ago, but still about $1 more expensive than the same time last year.
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