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Los Angeles Times
27-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Father killed teaching teen daughter to drive in Laguna Beach on Memorial Day ID'd
The name of a local man who died during a Memorial Day driving lesson with his 15-year-old daughter after their vehicle plummeted down an embankment onto Coast Highway below, was released by a law enforcement official Tuesday. Laguna Beach police spokesperson Lt. Jesse Schmidt said 64-year-old James Politoski was teaching the teen, who was practicing driving with a learner's permit, in the parking lot of the Aliso Creek Plaza Shopping Center at around 2:30 p.m. Monday. 'Preliminarily, we suspect it was a father-daughter driving lesson, and he was teaching her the rules of the road,' Schmidt said Tuesday. Police and fire personnel were called to a stretch of Coast Highway between Wesley and Montage Resort drives by a 911 call placed at 2:43 p.m. The vehicle, a Volkswagen Type-1 (Beetle) convertible, apparently became out of the driver's control during the lesson and crashed through a fence barrier, careened down a roughly 40-foot embankment and landed upside down on the highway below. The top of the convertible was reportedly closed at the time of the incident, police report, and the Beetle hit a parked car before stopping, causing light damage to that vehicle. Politoski was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a news release. The driver, whose name is not being released to the public because she is a minor, was transported to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo with significant injuries and, as of Tuesday morning, was listed in stable condition, according to Schmidt. Preliminary investigation points to the possibility that the teen may have confused the pedals during the driving lesson, Schmidt said Tuesday. 'It appears to be a gas-brake pedal confusion sort of incident,' the spokesman said. 'It's just tragic, especially on Memorial Day. Our condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this.' Pacific Coast Highway was closed in both directions for roughly three hours to accommodate paramedics and the subsequent investigation before fully reopening to traffic, according to Schmidt.
Hypebeast
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Hypebeast
Twisted Reimagines the Baja Bug With New TBug Special Project
Summary Twisted Automotivehas unveiled its latest Special Project: theTBug, a radically reimagined take on the classic Baja Bug. Inspired by founder Charles Fawcett's childhood memories ofBeetleposters on his sister's wall, the TBug channels the rebellious spirit of desert racing through a modern lens. Far from a simple restoration, the TBug starts with a '60s to '80s air-cooled Beetle and is stripped down to first principles. The chassis is sealed and strengthened, long-travel suspension added and oversized BFG tires fitted for rugged capability. Despite doubling the original horsepower, the TBug stays under 80 hp to maintain a pure, connected driving experience. 'We wanted to capture the honest simplicity of the original Baja Bugs,' said Twisted's lead engineer Rob, 'but filter it through our obsession with engineering excellence.' Each TBug is bespoke, with no two builds alike. From hand-finished interiors to LED lighting and upgraded brakes, every detail serves a purpose. The TBug will debut May 29 at Twisted's Kensington Mews showroom, with price available upon request via the automaker'sofficial site.
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Strands hints today: Clues and answers on Thursday, May 15 2025
Strands hints today: Clues and answers on Thursday, May 15 2025 WARNING: THERE ARE STRANDS SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT THE MAY 15, 2025 STRANDS ANSWER SPOILED FOR YOU. Ready? OK! Have you been playing Strands, the super fun game from the New York Times, the makers of Connections and other brain-teasers like Wordle in which you have to do a search in a jumble of letters and find words based on a theme? It's pretty fun and sometimes very challenging, so we're here to help you out with some clues and the answers, including the "Spangram" that connects all the words. Let's start with the clue: Animal drives. If you want our help? Think about what you drive! As for the answers, scroll below the photo below: Beetle, Mustang, Rabbit, Impala, Bronco, Jaguar The Spangram is ... AUTOMOBILES. Play more word games Looking for more word games?
Fox News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Jose Mujica, Uruguay's former leader, rebel icon and cannabis reformer, dead at 89
Print Close Published May 14, 2025 Jose Mujica, a one-time guerrilla and later president of Uruguay who drove a beat-up VW Beetle and enacted progressive reforms that carried his reputation well beyond South America, has died aged 89. The straight-talking Mujica, known to many Uruguayans by his nickname "Pepe," led the small farming country's leftist government from 2010 to 2015 after convincing voters his radical past was a closed chapter. FORMER URUGUAYAN PRESIDENT JOSE MUJICA ANNOUNCES ESOPHAGEAL CANCER DIAGNOSIS "It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of our comrade Pepe Mujica," President Yamandu Orsi said in a post on X. "Thank you for everything you gave us and for your deep love for your people." As president, Mujica adopted what was then a pioneering liberal stance on issues related to civil liberties. He signed a law allowing gay marriage and abortions in early pregnancy, and backed a proposal to legalize marijuana sales. The gay marriage and abortion measures were a big shift for Catholic Latin America, and the move on marijuana was at the time almost unprecedented worldwide. Regional leaders, including leftist presidents in Brazil, Chile and Mexico, mourned Mujica's passing and praised his example. "He defended democracy like few others. And he never stopped advocating for social justice and the end of all inequalities," said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Mujica's "greatness transcended the borders of Uruguay and his presidential term," he added. During his term in office, Mujica refused to move to the presidential residence, choosing to stay in his modest home where he kept a small flower farm in a suburb of Montevideo, the capital. Shunning a formal suit and tie, it was common to see him driving around in his Beetle or eating at downtown restaurants where office workers had lunch. In a May 2024 interview with Reuters in the tin-roofed house that Mujica shared with his wife, former Senator Lucia Topolansky, he said he had kept the old Beetle and that it was still in "phenomenal" condition. But, he added, he preferred a turn on the tractor, saying it was "more entertaining" than a car and was a place where "you have time to think." Critics questioned Mujica's tendency to break with protocol, while his blunt and occasionally uncouth statements sometimes forced him to explain himself, under pressure from opponents and political allies alike. But it was his down-to-earth style and progressive musings that endeared him to many Uruguayans. "The problem is that the world is run by old people, who forget what they were like when they were young," Mujica said during the 2024 interview. Mujica himself was 74 when he became president. He was elected with 52% of the vote, despite some voters' concerns about his age and his past as one of the leaders of the Tupamaros rebel group in the 1960s and 1970s. Lucia Topolansky was Mujica's long-term partner, dating back to their days in the Tupamaros. The couple married in 2005, and she served as vice president from 2017-2020. After leaving office, they remained politically active, regularly attending inaugurations of Latin American presidents and giving crucial backing to candidates in Uruguay, including Orsi, who took office in March 2025. They stopped growing flowers on their small holding but continued to cultivate vegetables, including tomatoes that Topolansky pickled each season. BEHIND BARS Jose Mujica's birth certificate recorded him as born in 1935, although he claimed there was an error and that he was actually born a year earlier. He once described his upbringing as "dignified poverty." Mujica's father died when he was 9 or 10 years old, and as a boy he helped his mother maintain the farm where they grew flowers and kept chickens and a few cows. At the time Mujica became interested in politics, Uruguay's left was weak and fractured and he began his political career in a progressive wing of the center-right National Party. In the late 1960s, he joined the Marxist Tupamaros guerrilla movement, which sought to weaken Uruguay's conservative government through robberies, political kidnappings and bombings. Mujica later said that he had never killed anyone but was involved in several violent clashes with police and soldiers and was once shot six times. Uruguay's security forces gained the upper hand over the Tupamaros by the time the military swept to power in a 1973 coup, marking the start of a 12-year dictatorship in which about 200 people were kidnapped and killed. Thousands more were jailed and tortured. Mujica spent almost 15 years behind bars, many in solitary confinement, lying at the bottom of an old horse trough with only ants for company. He managed to escape twice, once by tunneling into a nearby house. His biggest "vice" as he approached 90, he later said, was talking to himself, alluding to his time in isolation. When democracy was restored to the farming country of roughly 3 million people in 1985, Mujica was released and returned to politics, gradually becoming a prominent figure on the left. He served as agriculture minister in the center-left coalition of his predecessor, President Tabaré Vázquez, who would go on to succeed him from 2015 to 2020. Mujica's support base was on the left, but he maintained a fluid dialogue with opponents within the center-right, inviting them to traditional barbecues at his home. "We can't pretend to agree on everything. We have to agree with what there is, not with what we like," he said. He believed drugs should be decriminalized "under strict state control" and addiction addressed. "I do not defend drug use. But I can't defend (a ban) because now we have two problems: drug addiction, which is a disease, and narcotrafficking, which is worse," he said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In retirement, he remained resolutely optimistic. "I want to convey to all the young people that life is beautiful, but it wears out and you fall," he said following a cancer diagnosis. "The point is to start over every time you fall, and if there is anger, transform it into hope." Print Close URL
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First Post
14-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Uruguay's José Mujica, who lived like a farmer, has died. The story of the 'world's poorest president'
José Mujica, former Uruguayan president and globally admired statesman, has died at 89. A former guerrilla who once spent 10 years in solitary confinement, he became a humble, sandal-wearing leader who gave away most of his salary, drove a beat-up Beetle and legalised marijuana. Why did he choose to live so simply while leading a nation? read more Then, the presidential candidate of ruling party Frente Amplio, former left-wing guerrilla fighter Jose Mujica chats in his farm in the outskirts of Montevideo, Uruguay, November 27, 2009. File Image/Reuters José Mujica, the former Uruguayan president renowned worldwide for his austere lifestyle, humble demeanour, and unapologetically progressive politics, passed away at the age of 89. The news of his death was confirmed by Uruguay's current President Yamandú Orsi, who described him as 'President, activist, guide and leader.' Mujica died just months after he entered hospice care at his modest home outside Montevideo, having chosen to cease further treatment for esophageal cancer. Jose Mujica, former leader of leftist guerrilla group 'Tupamaros National Liberation' and current pre-candidate for the ruling leftist Popular Front party for the primaries elections, casts his ballot in a voting station in Montevideo, Uruguay, June 28, 2009. File Image/Reuters With his passing, Latin America loses not just a former head of state, but a revolutionary-turned-statesman whose decisions vis-à-vis social justice, environmental sustainability and civil liberties earned him admiration far beyond Uruguay's borders. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Part I: The daring life of José Mujica Born in 1935 (though Mujica often insisted he was born a year earlier due to a clerical error), José Mujica grew up in what he once described as a state of 'dignified poverty.' His father died when he was around 9 or 10 years old, leaving his mother to raise him on a small farm where they cultivated flowers and kept livestock. As a teenager, Mujica became involved in politics through the progressive faction of Uruguay's conservative National Party. Jose Mujica, a former historical leader of the guerrilla movement 'Tupamaros,' picks up a bouquet of flowers in the flower beds of his farm, on the outskirts of Montevideo, Uruguay, October 31, 2004. File Image/Reuters But by the 1960s, inspired by the revolutionary fervour sweeping the region in the wake of Cuba's transformation, he joined the Tupamaros National Liberation Movement, a Marxist urban guerrilla group that sought to topple the Uruguayan government through a campaign of robberies, kidnappings and sabotage. The Tupamaros gained both notoriety and government backlash. Mujica himself was shot six times in a shootout with law enforcement, and he staged multiple prison escapes. However, following a coup in 1973, Uruguay descended into a 12-year military dictatorship. Mujica was captured and imprisoned for nearly 15 years — ten of which he spent in near-total isolation, sometimes confined to what he described as an old horse trough with only ants for company. Uruguay's former President Jose Mujica arrives to cast his vote in Montevideo, Uruguay, October 26, 2014. File Image/AP He later reflected, 'They ask you: 'How do you want to be remembered?' Vanity of vanities! Memory is a historical thing. … Years go by. Not even the dust remains.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Mujica was granted amnesty in 1985 when democracy was restored in Uruguay. He re-entered politics, this time through the Broad Front, a coalition of leftists and social democrats, and began a meteoric rise. Part II: The humble life of José Mujica Widely known as 'Pepe,' when Mujica became Uruguay's 40th president in 2010 at age 74, he did so with 52 per cent of the national vote. Despite his radical past, voters entrusted him with leadership during a pivotal moment for the country. What followed was a presidency unlike any other in modern political history. Choosing not to move into the presidential palace, Mujica remained in his three-room farmhouse on the outskirts of Montevideo, where he continued to grow vegetables and flowers with his wife and political partner, Lucía Topolansky. Presidential candidate of ruling party Frente Amplio, former left-wing guerrilla fighter Jose Mujica puts his clothes in his bedroom in his farm in the outskirts of Montevideo, Uruguay, November 27, 2009. File Image/Reuters Instead of wearing suits, he favoured cardigans and sandals. He drove a weathered 1987 Volkswagen Beetle, lunched with office workers in local restaurants, and handed out anti-machismo pamphlets on city streets. 'They made me seem like some impoverished president, but they were the poor ones … imagine if you have to live in that four-story government house just to have tea,' he told the Associated Press in 2023. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Former guerrilla leader Jose Mujica walks on his flower farm, in Montevideo, Uruguay, June 8, 1999. File Image/Reuters This commitment to modesty earned him the nickname 'the world's poorest president,' a label he never sought but one that captured his philosophical stance on life and politics. In a May 2024 interview, he said he still had his Beetle in 'phenomenal' condition, but preferred using a tractor: 'more entertaining' and better for thinking. How Uruguay fared under José Mujica Under Mujica's leadership from 2010 to 2015, Uruguay underwent some of the most sweeping and progressive social reforms in Latin America. His administration legalised same-sex marriage, enacted abortion rights for the first trimester, and led the world by becoming the first country to fully legalise the production, sale, and consumption of marijuana under state regulation. 'I do not defend drug use. But I can't defend (a ban) because now we have two problems: drug addiction, which is a disease, and narcotrafficking, which is worse,' he said. Former guerrilla leader and Uruguay presidential candidate Jose Mujica works on his farm at the outskirts of Montevideo after casting his vote during the Uruguayan National elections in Montevideo, Uruguay, October 25, 2009. File Image/Reuters These reforms were especially bold in a region still deeply influenced by conservative and Catholic values. At the same time, Uruguay achieved strong economic performance under his tenure, with rising incomes, lower poverty rates and a reputation for robust democratic institutions. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Mujica's government also championed green energy transformation. By the end of his term, Uruguay was generating 98 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources, including solar, wind, and biomass — placing it among the most environmentally progressive countries globally. Pope Francis meets Uruguay's President Jose Mujica during a private audience at the Vatican, June 1, 2013. File Image/Reuters Despite these achievements, his presidency was not free from criticism. His opponents pointed to rising crime rates and an expanding fiscal deficit that would later compel his successor to raise taxes. Conservative critics also pushed back against his liberal stances and often unfiltered public remarks. Nonetheless, Mujica concluded his presidency with a 60 per cent approval rating. Though barred from seeking consecutive terms, he remained a senator and continued to be one of Uruguay's most influential voices. How world leaders reacted to José Mujica's passing Mujica's passing sparked a flood of tributes from world leaders and citizens alike. Colombian President Gustavo Petro referred to him as a 'great revolutionary.' Brazil's Foreign Ministry called him 'one of the most important humanists of our time.' Chilean President Gabriel Boric lauded his work against inequality, writing, 'If you left us anything, it was the unquenchable hope that things can be done better.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called him 'an example for Latin America and the entire world.' Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva added, 'He defended democracy like few others. And he never stopped advocating for social justice and the end of all inequalities.' Then-US President Barack Obama welcomes Uruguay's President Jose Mujica before their meeting in the Oval Office in Washington, US, May 12, 2014. File Image/Reuters As a retired leader, Mujica and his wife remained politically active, attending Latin American presidential inaugurations and supporting candidates like Orsi, who took office in March 2025 . Even after they stopped selling flowers, they continued growing vegetables on their land — Topolansky was known for pickling tomatoes each season. Mujica never lost his philosophical lens on life. After receiving his cancer diagnosis, he told the country's youth, 'I want to convey to all the young people that life is beautiful, but it wears out and you fall. The point is to start over every time you fall, and if there is anger, transform it into hope.' Mujica's journey — from an armed insurgent imprisoned for over a decade, to a president who legalised marijuana and refused to wear a tie — defies conventional political trajectories. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Uruguay's President Jose Mujica, left, and his wife Lucia Topolansky attend a flag ceremony in Montevideo, Uruguay, February 27, 2015. File Image/AP He once mused, 'This is the tragedy of life, on the one hand it's beautiful, but it ends. Therefore, paradise is here. As is hell.' Uruguay has declared three days of national mourning for the former president and statesman. With inputs from agencies
