NEW HAVEN, Conn.—A Connecticut woman has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for suffocating her 8-year-old son and then setting their house on fire. Prosecutors said Karin Ziolkowski killed her son, Elijah, in their Meriden home on Nov. 14, 2016, and then used tiki torch oil to set two fires. Rescuers could not resuscitate…

Fullerton may soon partner with Orange County to open a temporary cold weather shelter for the homeless after the county’s efforts to open such a facility in Santa Ana have reached a standstill. The Fullerton City Council unanimously voted during its Jan. 17 meeting to begin negotiations with county officials to open such at its…

The family of an Orange County deputy public defender who died in Mexico while celebrating his first wedding anniversary is claiming the lawyer was the victim of a crime, not an accident, according to a Jan. 17 statement from an attorney representing the family. The family of Elliot Blair, 33, “wholeheartedly believes based on their…

The Los Angeles City Council will create a brand-new emergency fund of about $50 million to address its homelessness crisis. Council members passed a motion Jan. 18 authored by interim council President Paul Krekorian to transfer city funds to a new emergency homeless response account—$26.5 million from the general fund and $23.5 million from what…

Nebraska lawmakers are considering two gender-related bills; one that bans gender change treatments for minors and another that prevents different biological genders from commingling in sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms. The “Let Them Grow Act” prohibits gender-altering procedures for individuals younger than 19, including surgical and hormone treatments such as puberty-blocking drugs. “The state has…

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis awarded $100 million to support beach recovery projects in counties hard hit by two hurricanes in 2022. Speaking in Daytona Beach Shores, DeSantis allocated money to 16 counties. The amounts ranged from $37.7 million for Volusia County, hard hit by Category 1 Hurricane Nicole, and $23.1 million for Lee County, the…

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is denying new allegations that he raised money for a disabled veteran’s cancer-afflicted service dog only to keep the charitable donations for himself. Retired U.S. Navy veteran Richard Osthoff recently told Patch.com that he met Santos in May 2016 when his service dog, a pit bull mix named Sapphire, developed a…

LOS ANGELES—A shooter stood over a 16-year-old mother clutching her 10-month-old baby and shot and killed them in a brazen attack in a central California farming community that left six dead, a sheriff said Jan. 17. Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said the teenager was fleeing the violence early Jan. 16 when the killers caught…

Commentary California Gov. Gavin Newsom is refusing to address the hydrocarbon elephant in the room, namely that the end of oil would be the end of civilization, as the products manufactured from crude oil played a major role in allowing the world population to grow from one billion to eight billion people in the past…

OCEANSIDE, Calif.—Investigators sought Jan. 18 to determine what caused a solo SUV crash in Oceanside that killed a woman and a child and injured four other underage passengers, two critically. The vehicle was traveling south on Douglas Drive at high speed when the driver lost control of it near Pala Road about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday,…