Latest news with #LAO
Epoch Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Epoch Times
California State Analysts Recommend Delaying Governor's Proposal Expediting $20 Billion Water Project
California's Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), an independent government agency, has recommended that policymakers wait to implement Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent proposal to expedite the state's Delta Conveyance Project. 'Deferring actions would allow the Legislature more time and capacity for sufficient consideration of the potential benefits, implications, and trade-offs,' the LAO said in a
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Time of India
Patwari gets 4 years' jail for taking bribe in Gurgaon
Gurgaon: A city court has sentenced a patwari (revenue official) to four years of rigorous imprisonment in a corruption case of 2023. The court on Monday convicted Sanjay Kumar and also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000. Sanjay, who was posted at the land acquisition office (LAO) of HSVP, had been caught red-handed accepting Rs 8,000 bribe by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Feb 2023. The patwari was accused of demanding a bribe to present a report regarding interest received by the complainant in lieu of the acquired land, an ACB official said. The accused was unable to produce any evidence to prove his innocence. The ACB received a complaint on Feb 6, 2023, alleging that Sanjay was demanding bribes for submitting records related to payment in land acquisition before the court. A case was registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act on the same day at the ACB Gurgaon police station. You Can Also Check: Gurgaon AQI | Weather in Gurgaon | Bank Holidays in Gurgaon | Public Holidays in Gurgaon The ACB filed a chargesheet in March 2023 before the court. After two years of trial, the court held Sanjay guilty and convicted him based on the ACB investigation and the statement of the complainant.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, G&T
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! G&T Constructor: Stella Zawistowski Editor: Jared Goudsmit ACE (13A: Highest card in Teen Patti) Teen Patti is a gambling card game that originated in India. It is played with a standard 52-card deck without jokers. Hands in Teen Patti consist of three cards, and the highest hand is three ACEs. Although Teen Patti is new to me, the answer here is fairly inferable, as an ACE is the highest card in many games. LEVI (20A: Composer/lyricist Celerio) LEVI Celero (1910-2002) composed over 4,000 songs during his lifetime. He was recognized as a National Artist of the Philippines in 1997. The Film Academy of the Philippines honored LEVI Celero with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989, in recognition of the songs he composed for movies. Fun fact: LEVI Celerio was also known for using a leaf as a musical instrument. Guinness Book of World Records recognized him as the "only leaf player in the world." LAO (32A: Kaipen cuisine) Kaipen is a snack in LAO cuisine that is made of green algae, garlic, vegetables, and sesame seeds. The paper-thin snack is fried until crispy. AMOR (41D: "___ Eterno" (Juan Gabriel song)) Juan Gabriel (1950-2016) was one of the most prolific Mexican singers and songwriters of all time, and the best-selling artist in Mexican history. His flamboyant style earned him the nickname "El Divo de Juarez." "AMOR Eterno" ("Eternal Love") was one of Juan Gabriel's signature songs. OHIO (15A: Kings Island's state) Kings Island is an amusement park located in Mason, OHIO (in the southwest part of the state near Cincinnati). Kings Island, which opened in 1972, is owned and operated by Six Flags. If you want to visit Kings Island, you'll need to wait until April, as it's currently closed for the season. GAME THEORY (24A: Field of math that examines players' strategies) GAME THEORY models interactions between participants in certain situations, in order to study how and why people make decisions. GAME THEORY has applications in social science, logic, systems science, economics, and computer science. BRITPOP (33A: Genre for Oasis) The music genre known as BRITPOP arose in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom (where else?). It is characterized by bright, catchy themes that are in contrast to the grunge music also popular at that time. The band Oasis, founded in Manchester in 1991, is considered one of the most successful BRITPOP groups of all time. EMAIL (36A: "This meeting could've been an ___") The other day I read about a company inviting employees to suggest names for conference rooms in a new building. One suggestion was to name a conference room "this meeting could've been an EMAIL." That idea amuses me probably more than it should. LABOR (38A: Childbirth process) and EPIDURAL (55A: Childbirth anesthetic) A pair of childbirth clues today. (Twin childbirth clues?) An EPIDURAL is a method of anesthesia in which medication is injected into the EPIDURAL space around the spinal cord. This results in a localized loss of sensation. EPIDURALs can be used for pain relief during LABOR. CATE (67A: Oscar winner Blanchett) CATE Blanchett has won two Oscars, aka Academy Awards. In 2005, she was awarded an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator. In 2014 she won a Best Actress Oscar for Blue Jasmine. SEAN (68A: "Stranger Things" actor Astin) Stranger Things is a Netflix TV series about a small town dealing with a hostile alternate dimension. In the show's second and third seasons, SEAN Astin portrays Bob Newby. SHED (70A: Leave hair all over the couch, say) This clue made me laugh! The top of the couch (actually a loveseat) is a favorite spot for my cat, Willow, to lay. That spot has to be "defuzzed" on a regular basis. How can one cat SHED so much fur?! EAGLE (1D: "Crowned" bird of prey) The crowned EAGLE is a species of EAGLE that lives in sub-Saharan Africa. The quotation marks around the word crowned in the clue indicate that this word is paired with the answer to form the name of a bird of prey. EAR (6D: Serving of corn) and CHEESIEST (22D: Most corny) Let's hear it for corn clues. SLIMED (8D: Covered in green goop at the Kids' Choice Awards) "You've been SLIMED!" SLIME has been an integral part of the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards show since 2002. Nickelodeon's iconic green SLIME made its first appearance in 1979 on the Canadian sketch comedy show, You Can't Do That on Television. If you'd like to learn more, take a minute and a half to watch, "A Brief History of Nickelodeon SLIME." AHA (10D: "I've got it!") AHA! It's one of my favorite exclamations. NATO (18D: ___ phonetic alphabet) The NATO Phonetic Alphabet is a widely used radiotelephone spelling alphabet. It's been a few months since I've had an opportunity to review the NATO phonetic alphabet, which I like to do each time it's mentioned in the puzzle. Today I decided to review by spelling my last name using the NATO phonetic: Hotel - Oscar - Echo - Lima - Sierra - Charlie - Hotel - Echo - Romeo. GEO (24D: Prefix with "cache" or "Guessr") A GEOcache is a container of items (usually a logbook, pencil, and a variety of small, inexpensive objects) which is hidden at a specific location for searchers to find using GPS coordinates. GEOcaching is a lot of fun, and a good way to explore an area. GEOGuessr is a web-based game in which players guess locations based on Google Street View imagery. The game was created by Anton Wallén in 2013. YOLO (28D: "Be adventurous!" acronym) YOLO = You Only Live Once MGM (45D: _etro-_oldwyn-_ayer) The film production company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, often shortened to MGM, was founded in 1924. Since 2022, MGM has been a subsidiary of Amazon. AMA (58D: Online Q&A) AMA = Ask Me Anything NEO (62D: "The Matrix" hero) There are four movies in The Matrix franchise, the first of which (The Matrix) was released in 1999, and the latest of which (The Matrix Resurrections) came out in 2021. The series deals with the technological fall of humanity, and the creation of artificial intelligence and self-aware machines. Although I haven't seen the movies, I've learned from crosswords that in these movies, Keanu Reeves portrays computer programmer Thomas Anderson, who operates as a hacker using the name NEO. GRAVY TRAIN (16A: Source of easy money) GAME THEORY (24A: Field of math that examines players' strategies) GET TOGETHER (47A: Meetup) GOOD TIMING (61A: "You came in right when I hoped you would!") G&T: In each theme answer, the first word begins with a G and the second word begins with a T. Our G&T phrases are GRAVY TRAIN, GAME THEORY, GET TOGETHER, and GOOD TIMING. This is a fun initialism theme. G&T often stands for the classic cocktail, gin and tonic. I enjoy these types of themes because it's interesting to discover what else these initials could stand for. The appearance of GOOD TIMING in the grid as a theme answer made me realize that this is a phrase I use on a fairly regular basis. Thank you, Stella, for this excellent puzzle. USA TODAY's Daily Crossword Puzzles Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for February 10, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
Al Jazeera
31-01-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
Why incarcerated workers play a key role in fighting California's fires
Los Angeles, California – As a series of wind-driven wildfires caused unprecedented destruction in southern California this month, fire crews composed of currently and formerly incarcerated individuals were at the forefront of the fight to contain the flames. California's firefighting programme has long been criticised for its reliance on imprisoned workers, who face low pay and dangerous conditions. But proponents of the programme point out that, in recent years, the state has taken steps to expand opportunities for incarcerated firefighters to pursue careers in the field upon release. Brian Conroy, a captain at the state firefighting agency Cal Fire, recently led a crew of formerly incarcerated firefighters to battle the Kenneth Fire and Palisades Fire north of Los Angeles. On a windy morning in mid-January, he explained that about 432 people have passed through a firefighting certification programme for people on parole at the Ventura Training Center (VTC) since October 2018. 'This programme is one of a kind,' said Conroy, a tall, stocky man in a dark blue Cal Fire uniform. 'These guys work well under pressure because they've lived a life under pressure.' Incarcerated labour About 1,747 incarcerated workers live in a network of 35 'conservation fire camps', according to California's Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO). The camps are jointly managed by Cal Fire, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. At the camps, individuals learn firefighting skills, such as clearing brush and handling heavy equipment to create fire also undergo the vigorous physical training necessary to lug nearly 30kg (65lb) of gear through California's sometimes steep, difficult terrain. The role of incarcerated people in the state's firefighting efforts are substantial: While figures can vary by year, incarcerated firefighters can make up as much as 30 percent of the state's wildland firefighting force. Supporters of the programme note that it is voluntary and those who participate can shave time off their sentences. They also say that spending time outdoors, engaged in work that benefits the community, is an attractive alternative to the banal routines of prison life. Conroy explained many find the work of fighting fires fulfilling and exciting. 'If you talk to some of the folks on these crews, they'll tell you it's the best thing that ever happened to them,' Conroy said. Explosive wildfires But the work is strenuous and sometimes dangerous. And using incarcerated workers offers significant cost savings for the state, leading to scrutiny of the motivations behind the programme. 'The lives of incarcerated people are not expendable,' Amika Mota, the executive director of the Sisters Warriors Freedom Coalition, an advocacy group, said in a statement on Monday. Mota herself has been an incarcerated firefighter, and her organisation hopes to push for greater fire safety for all people in California's prisons. She pointed out that, when wildfires approach prisons, authorities are sometimes slow to move the people inside away from harm. 'They deserve safety as much as the rest of the impacted community,' she said. Critics also point to the discrepancy in pay as one of the firefighting programme's downsides. Incarcerated workers are paid just a fraction of the wages that non-incarcerated crews receive. They receive between $5.80 and $10.24 a day, a figure that can increase by $1 per hour when they are deployed to fight fires. Still, even with that bump, daily wages only amount to about $29.80 for 24 hours of work. By comparison, the monthly base salary for a Cal Fire employee is between $3,672 and $4,643, with an additional $1,824 to $2,306 for 'extended duty week compensation' — a term for the hours worked beyond a normal schedule. Critics also note the need for extra hands on the fire line is also growing, making an incarcerated workforce all the more attractive to state officials. California's fire season is now year-round. January, for instance, is not typically when the state sees strong fire activity, but months without rain created conditions for explosive fire growth in the southern region's shrubby chaparral landscape. On January 7, both the Palisades and the Eaton fires erupted. The official cause of the fires remains unknown, but early speculation has fallen on faulty electrical equipment. Winds as strong as 160 kilometres per hour (100 miles per hour) helped stoke the flames, making them nearly impossible to contain. They spread across the coastal neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades and the historically Black community of Altadena, levelling buildings in their paths. According to Cal Fire, the Eaton Fire and the Palisades Fire now rank as the second and third most destructive in state history, with 9,418 and 6,662 structures destroyed, respectively. At least 17 people have been killed in the Eaton blaze, along with 11 in the Palisades. 'The devastation is a very hard pill to swallow for anyone who has been doing this for a long time,' Conroy said. 'When someone loses their house, it's not just the house. It's everything they lose with it. It's the memories of childhood, the pictures on the wall.' But the status of the workers who are tasked with containing the flames — and the compensation they receive for doing so — remains a matter of persistent debate in California. Legislative steps The state legislature has taken some steps in recent years to change the incarcerated firefighter programme, in response to some of the criticism. In September 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed bill AB 2147, which allowed formerly incarcerated firefighters with histories of nonviolent offences to have their records expunged. That, in turn, opens them up to opportunities to pursue careers that their criminal records might otherwise hinder, including professional firefighting and emergency services. Senator Eloise Gomez Reyes, who sponsored that bill, told Al Jazeera in an emailed statement that the legislation seeks to 'make sure that once firefighting skills are developed by incarcerated individuals that they are then offered an opportunity to continue to serve their community as full time firefighters'. This month, state assembly member Isaac Bryan also introduced legislation that would require incarcerated firefighters to be paid the same hourly wage as the lowest paid non-incarcerated firefighter. The bill could be heard in the legislature's fiscal committee as early as February 15. Andrew Hernandez, a 41-year-old who is completing the programme at Ventura Training Center and recently sent in a job application to Cal Fire, said that, when he first entered prison, he never imagined that he would become a firefighter. 'Not in a million years would I have guessed,' he laughs, calling the programme 'life-changing'. 'Some of us made bad decisions. Some of us did bad things. But I want to level out the playing field. I want to do something to give back.'
