West
2 Kennedy children endorse opponent of progressive Los Angeles DA, cite parole hearing for RFK's killer
Two of Robert F. Kennedy’s adult children threw their support behind a former federal prosecutor running against current Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, citing his progressive policies, noting that it was the first time they had supported a candidate against a Democrat.
Max and Rory Kennedy announced their support of Independent Nathan Hochman in downtown Los Angeles in front of the Hall of Justice, where they accused Gascón, who is up for re-election, of failing to support victims of crime and their families.
“A lot has been written about Gascón and his questionable policies, Rory Kennedy said. “My family and I have lived through them.”
DAUGHTER OF ARMY VETERAN KILLED IN FRONT YARD CALLS FOR JUSTICE, CHANGE TO POLICIES: ;THIS IS A VICIOUS CYCLE’
Max and Rory Kennedy in Los Angeles on Tuesday to announce their support for Independent Nathan Hochman for Los Angeles County District Attorney. (Front Page Index)
The Kennedys and Hochman specifically cited a DA office policy of barring prosecutors from attending parole hearings to argue against the early release of criminals, including Sirhan Sirhan, 79, who assassinated Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, at the former Ambassador Hotel moments after he delivered a victory speech in the pivotal California primary.
Sirhan was convicted of first-degree murder for the slaying.
“The reason we’re here is because Gascón’s policies are failing Los Angeles,” Max Kennedy said alongside mothers who have lost children to crime.
Gascón has been heavily criticized after riding a 2020 progressive wave of promises to reform the way Los Angeles County prosecutes criminal suspects. Upon taking office, he issued a number of directives, including the prohibition of charging juveniles as adults, even for violent crimes, supporting zero cash bail and other progressive measures.
CALIFORNIA DEPUTIES SHOT, KILLED TEEN KIDNAPPING VICTIM AS SHE WAS SEEN SURRENDERING: VIDEO
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is up for re-election. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Max Kennedy said loved ones of victims of crimes have been deserted by the DA’s office and left to face the court system alone because of such policies, prompting him and his sister to throw their support toward Hochman.
“This is the first that we’ve ever supported a candidate against a Democrat,” he said.
Sirhan was found eligible for parole in 2022, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom reversed the decision. He was denied parole again in 2023. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office didn’t send a prosecutor to the parole hearings in 2022 and 2023, as part of a new policy instituted by Gascón.
Sen. Robert F. Kennedy speaks to the delegates of the United Auto Workers at a convention hall in Atlantic City, N.J., May 9, 1968. (AP Photo, File)
Hochman noted that the district attorney is involved in most aspects of criminal investigations and the prosecution of suspects.
“Yet somehow, someway, DA Gascón views his responsibility as ending when that murderer seeks to get out of prison early,” he said.
Sirhan Sirhan, left, was recommended for parole by a California board in 2022 for the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP; Photo by KEYSTONE-FRANCE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Gascón’s campaign. In 2021, his office told Fox that prosecutors weren’t sent to Sirhan’s parole hearing as part of a promise to refrain from influencing the proceedings.
“The role of a prosecutor and their access to information ends at sentencing,” Gascón’s office said at the time. “The parole board, however, has all the pertinent facts and evaluations at their disposal, including how someone has conducted themselves over the last few decades in prison. The parole board’s sole purpose is to objectively determine whether someone is suitable for release.”
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San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Celebrates One Year of Sunset Dunes – Streetsblog San Francisco
A “PloverFest” party was held Sunday to celebrate the first anniversary of Sunset Dunes, the two-mile linear park along San Francisco’s coastline. When Sunset Dunes opened, it made history as California’s largest pedestrianization project, measuring 50 acres and stretching from Sloat Boulevard to Lincoln Way.
Since then, it’s become a vibrant gathering place where people of all ages come to play, relax, bike, skate, walk, run, and connect by the coast.
“Thousands of people came out to Sunset Dunes for PloverFest to celebrate and listen to music with neighbors and friends,” said Lucas Lux with Friends of Sunset Dunes. “This energy is yet another sign of how beloved the park has become,”
More from S.F. Rec and Park:
Over the past 12 months, approximately 300 volunteers planted more than 2,200 dune grasses, strengthening the shoreline against sea level rise. Birding excursions, walking tours and dog stewardship education helped community members connect with nature. Birdwatchers documented 87 species, including nesting white-crowned sparrows.
Sunset Dunes hosted 20 permitted events in its first year, drawing large crowds, including nearly 13,000 participants at the Skechers Hot Chocolate Run, 9,500 runners at the San Francisco Half Marathon, and 3,000 Halloween revelers at the Great Hauntway event.
At the same time, the park is used regularly for everyday recreation and gathering. Survey data indicates one in four visitors lives in the Sunset.
Rec and Park also conducted a broad community outreach process in the park’s first year, hosting open houses and stakeholder meetings and gathering input from more than 3,000 people. That work will continue in the second year, with a focus on delivering community-requested improvements, adding new amenities, and engaging the public in shaping the park’s future.
Of course, there’s still a shrinking contingent of obstructionists who will never accept the outcome of 2024’s Prop. K, which converted this stretch of Great Highway into a park. Yes, it cost Supervisor Joel Engardio his job. And, yes, the “controversy” continues. But given the park’s success, the remaining opposition, loud as it may be, is in fact petering out.
“We’re looking forward to celebrating Sunset Dunes’s success for many more years to come,” said Lux.
Be sure to check out additional coverage of the anniversary in the SF Chron.
Denver, CO
Is snow in Denver still possible this season?
Metro Denver residents will see rain through the middle of May — probably not enough to reverse the drought — and any snow during this week’s cool spell likely will stay in Colorado’s mountains and foothills, according to the National Weather Service.
But Colorado and Denver have a history of May snowstorms, and “it can happen,” NWS meteorologist Russell Danielson said on Monday.
“There’s a slight, very small possibility of a few flakes falling overnight tonight with no accumulation expected,” Danielson said. “And, then, there’s another very slight chance Thursday night – again, with no accumulation expected,” he said.
The cooler weather that reached the Colorado Front Range on Sunday morning is expected to bring significant snow at elevations above 6,000 feet. In metro Denver, temperatures peaked at around 53 degrees on Monday, and NWS forecast afternoon thunderstorms.
In the mountains, snow showers will create hazardous travel conditions — poor visibility and slippery roads, especially on passes at higher elevations, NWS forecasters said. They issued a winter weather advisory for the north central mountains and anticipated mountain snow accumulations up to 8 inches by Tuesday morning.
Looking ahead, meteorologists predicted moisture in metro Denver over the next two weeks, shifting to warmer conditions through the end of July. That may bring relief after an exceptionally dry winter and early spring. Colorado mountain snowpack ranked as the lowest in recent history, and Denver temperatures in March – typically a month that brings heavy snow — broke records, topping 80 degrees.
“We have varying levels of severe to exceptional drought across the Denver area and the Front Range mountains,” Danielson said.
“Through about May 10, we expect multiple rounds of precipitation. That can, hopefully, lead to a little green-up,” he said. “But, then, from the second half of May through the end of July, it will look particularly hot and dry. We’re still expecting an above-normal fire weather season.”
On Sunday, up to a quarter inch of rain fell on parts of north metro Denver.
The rain this week is shaping up as “the best over the past five months,” climatologist Allie Mazurek said at the Colorado Climate Center on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins. But “our deficits are quite major, stacking up over months.” The statewide average mountain snowpack this week measured 15% of the average between 1991 and 2020, Mazurek said.
“Everywhere, we’re seeing below-average stream flow. And that’s expected to continue through summer,” she said.
“The only snow left is at high elevations above 10,000 feet. We’re in a bad place with our drought. We’ll take any moisture at this point,” she said. “But to turn our situation around, we would need a changed weather pattern over a long period of time, not just a couple of weeks.”
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Seattle, WA
Palestinian terrorist released in deal applauded at Seattle cultural festival | The Jerusalem Post
Seattle Palestinian cultural festival participants applauded an al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades terrorist, released as part of a ransom for hostages held in Gaza, as he was introduced as the keynote speaker at a Saturday event.
Speaking by video call from Egypt, according to Instagram stories published by Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return at the University of Washington (SUPER UW), Raed Abduljalil told participants of the Palestinian Cultural Resistance Festival that their actions were “an essential part of the battle we are waging against the occupation and its supporters.”
“Stay vigilant, for homelands are protected only by their conscious and aware. And I tell you today: I am more convinced than ever that I chose the right path,” the Fatah-affiliated terrorist said, according to SUPER UW. “Until we meet, God willing, under the sky of a liberated homeland.”
Abduljalil was released last February after serving 23 years of a life sentence in prison, according to Quds News and Wattan, responsible for terrorist attacks that resulted in deaths and injuries.
In promotional materials for the event organized by SUPER UW, Nidal Seattle, and Seattle University Students for Justice in Palestine, Abduljalil was described as a “freed Palestinian political prisoner and author” who had met and “struggled alongside” arch terrorist Marwan Barghouti and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) cell commander Walid Daqqa.
“Please don’t miss this important opportunity to learn not only the horrific conditions of the zionist prisons, but of the incredible work and teachings of the compass of the Palestinian resistance: its beloved prisoners,” Seattle University SJP in an April 12 Instagram post.
The program was held at the Cherry Street Village interfaith community center, which, four days prior, hosted a SUPER UW fundraiser for Lebanon and a screening of a documentary about “armed resistance” against Israel.
SUPER UW on April 15 told supporters it was a “crucial time to raise funds to materially support as well as deepen our understandings of the Lebanese resistance.” These remarks led the Department of Justice to announce on Tuesday that it was investigating UW’s handling of antisemitism.
SUPER UW and Nidal Seattle are affiliated with a network of organizations tied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.
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