October 2, 2018

Suspicious activity warning in Guam and the CNMI

Telecommunications firm IT&E, which operates both in Guam and the CNMI, issued a notice yesterday on its social media account, warning customers of “suspicious activity.”

“We’ve received reports that our subscribers are getting calls from +88182151200 and +88127175299. We recommend that you do not answer or call the number back, while Guam Homeland Security & Civil Defense along with the Marianas Regional Fusion Center, are monitoring the activity,” the company said in its Facebook page.

The post issued the following guidelines: For your security, we recommend that you:

-Don’t answer unexpected calls from unusual international numbers.

-Don’t answer calls from blocked or calls labeled as unknown.

-Don’t give out personal and/or financial information to unknown callers

Read more: https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/suspicious-activity-warning/

October 2, 2018

Beto O'Rourke dismisses Abbott 'cult' critique, calls his appeal democracy in action

O’Rourke drew large crowds in Lockhart and Elgin on Monday, dismissing Gov. Greg Abbott calling his appeal ‘cult-like.’


ELGIN — Gov. Greg Abbott told “Fox & Friends” Monday morning that Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s high-flying U.S. Senate campaign will come down to Earth when Texans find out what he stands for.

“Listen, we’ve seen this show before,” Abbott said. “We saw it at my first race for governor four years ago, when Wendy Davis was getting money and support from across the entire country, only to lose by 20 percentage points once it was revealed the positions that she really stood for. The same thing is happening for Beto O’Rourke.”

“He’s been a cultlike, very popular figure, the way he’s running his campaign. But you don’t vote on cults when you go to the U.S. Senate; you vote on the issues,” Abbott said.

But, to judge by O’Rourke’s appearances Monday before large crowds crackling with excitement in Lockhart and Elgin, the cult of Beto is only getting more frenetic, even in places that preferred Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton two years ago.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20181001/beto-orourke-dismisses-abbott-cult-critique-calls-his-appeal-democracy-in-action

October 2, 2018

Onyeri sentenced to life in prison for Judge Julie Kocurek shooting

AUSTIN -- U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel sentenced Chimene Onyeri to life in prison for the 2015 shooting of Travis County state District Judge Julie Kocurek.

Yeakel announced his decision on Tuesday afternoon in a federal courtroom in Austin.

Prosecutors with the federal government had requested a life sentence and bolstered their case Monday with testimony they believe ties Onyeri to two unrelated homicides in Houston. In final arguments, lead prosecutor Gregg Sofer called Onyeri a “cold-blooded killer.”

There is no parole in the federal courts system, meaning Onyeri will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20181002/onyeri-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-kocurek-shooting

October 2, 2018

Members of California white supremacist group arrested in connection with deadly Charlottesville

Members of California white supremacist group arrested in connection with deadly Charlottesville rally


Four militant white nationalists from California were arrested by federal authorities Tuesday on charges that they traveled to Virginia with the intent to incite a riot and commit violence at last year’s deadly far-right rallies in Charlottesville.

Thomas Cullen, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, announced that charges had been filed against Benjamin Drake Daley, 25, of Redondo Beach; Thomas Walter Gillen, 34, of Redondo Beach; Michael Paul Miselis, 29, of Lawndale; and Cole Evan White, 24, of Clayton. All four were set to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon.

The four are all members of the so-called Rise Above Movement, a white supremacist group based in Southern California that espouses anti-Semitism, promotes “clean living” and meets regularly in public parks to train in physical fitness, boxing and other street fighting techniques, according to the affidavit.

Last August, the four California men traveled to Charlottesville, the affidavit says, to join hundreds of other white nationalists at a rally organized by Richard Spencer, the leader of a white supremacist think tank, to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-charlottesville-charges-20181002-story.html

October 2, 2018

California bans secret settlements in sexual harassment cases

California will require its workers to take regular sexual harassment training and forbid secret settlements when they sue their employers.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday signed several bills that aim to prevent workplace harassment and help victims of sexual misconduct seek justice.

After explosive reporting last fall uncovered widespread abuse by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the #MeToo movement ignited a national discussion on sexual harassment, including in California politics.

Lawmakers responded this session by passing more than a dozen measures that experts said could make the state a national leader on the issue.

Read more: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article218830265.html

October 2, 2018

Vandals dress Democrat as a Nazi and deface Republican's signs in California House race

Both the Republican and Democrat running in California’s 1st District House race have taken to social media to decry the recent theft and vandalism of their campaign signs.

Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Oroville, went on Facebook first, in a Sept. 26 post showing what appeared to be several of his campaign signs defaced with spray paint.

“My campaign signs are being stolen and vandalized repeatedly,” he wrote. “It is worse than I’ve ever seen it. If you see one let us know so we can replace it. Unlike previous years, this isn’t kids just goofing around, it’s targeted.”

LaMalfa, who has served in Congress since 2013, is running for re-election against Audrey Denney, a Chico Democrat.

Read more: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article219320040.html

October 2, 2018

'Kill them all': Racist graffiti found at Sacramento City College prompts safety concerns

Racist graffiti discovered inside a men’s bathroom at Sacramento City College drew extra outrage as some alleged that the college did not notify its students of the threatening messages in a timely fashion.

The graffiti, which appeared to be written in black marker, included swastikas and hate language using racial slurs, with the words “Kill them all” written in the corner of one mirror. Other messages including “Time 2 fight back” and “#MAGA” on the side of a stall, as photos posted to social media Monday show.

An email sent to students by President Michael Gutierrez on Tuesday says that after “swastikas and hateful, racist language was found in one of our men’s restrooms on campus,” students notified campus officials and the slurs were cleaned off the bathroom surfaces.

Students said they reported the graffiti Saturday. Sacramento City College spokeswoman Kaitlyn MacGregor said Los Rios Police Department officers investigated about 8:30 a.m. Monday and custodial staff cleaned the messages away later that morning.

Read more: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article219377200.html

October 2, 2018

Former Suge Knight lawyer - already facing witness-tampering charges - accused of $1M in bank fraud

An attorney who once represented Marion “Suge” Knight in the rap mogul’s murder case was arrested Monday and charged with cashing more than $1 million in stolen federal tax return checks, authorities said.

Thaddeus Culpepper — who is already awaiting trial on charges that he tampered with witnesses during Knight’s case — was arrested at his home Monday without incident, the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said in a news release.

According to a criminal complaint, Culpepper deposited a U.S. Treasury check worth $1,003,814 at a Wells Fargo bank branch in Pasadena in August 2017. The check was payable to two unidentified people, but Culpepper “allegedly told a bank representative that the payees were clients and had endorsed the check to him,” the statement read.

From April 2015 to August 2017, Culpepper deposited 21 Internal Revenue Service tax refund checks in a Wells Fargo account, the criminal complaint said.

Read more: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/california/la-me-ln-thaddeus-culpepper-bank-fraud-20181001-story.html

October 2, 2018

Woman who accused Democrat Gil Cisneros of harassment says it was a 'misunderstanding'

A woman recanted her allegation of sexual harassment against a Democratic House candidate on Monday, blunting a major line of attack that a conservative super PAC had been using against Gil Cisneros in a key California race.

Melissa Fazli, who had accused Cisneros of making inappropriate comments to her at a state party convention in February, tweeted Monday that she met with the candidate over the weekend and realized there had been a “HUGE misunderstanding.” She demanded that the Congressional Leadership Fund take down its “vile” ads that were partly based on her accusation.

Fazli published the allegation in an open letter in May, when she was running as a Democrat for a state Assembly seat in the area. Fazli alleged at the time that Cisneros had suggested they go to a hotel room together and that he later made comments that could have been interpreted as “pay for play.”

The development could kneecap the Congressional Leadership Fund’s main attack strategy in the 39th Congressional District, where Cisneros is running against Republican Young Kim for a House seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton).

Read more: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/us-politics/la-pol-ca-cisneros-accuser-recants-20181001-story.html

October 2, 2018

SEC accuses two San Diego men in $61 million in Ponzi scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil complaint against two San Diego men for allegedly running a $61.5 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 350 investors across multiple states.

The lawsuit filed in San Diego federal court last week accuses Jonny Ngo, 32, and Donato “Mick” Baca Jr., 36, of raising money from investors between 2013 and 2017 that was supposedly used to buy bulk electronics such as iPhone screens and drones overseas. These products were supposedly distributed in the U.S. and sold at a substantial profit.

According to the SEC, the men promised investors returns of 5 percent to 15 percent every two weeks to 45 days through Ngo’s wholesale technology import business – NL Technology LLC.

NL Technology has a storefront in San Diego offering cellphone and computer repairs, but it engaged in little or no wholesale import business activity, according to the SEC.

Read more: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/technology/sd-fi-ponzi-sec-20181001-story.html