Southwest
San Diego man charged for threats to Arizona election worker: 'run' and 'hide'
A San Diego man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of leaving threatening messages on the personal cellphone of an Arizona election worker he accused of rigging the 2022 election results, federal prosecutors said.
The 52-year-old was charged with one count of communicating an interstate threat and will make an initial court appearance Friday in San Diego, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
TEXAS MAN GETS 3½ YEARS FOR THREATS AGAINST POLL WORKERS, ELECTIONS OFFICIALS
The defendant left threatening voicemails for a Maricopa County official the day after the certification of the 2022 election results, prosecutors said.
Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri is seen speaking with reporters during a news conference at the Department of Justice on Dec. 6, 2023, in Washington. Regarding the case of the 52-year-old who was charged with communicating an interstate threat, Argentieri said in a statement, “The indictment alleges that the defendant accused the official of cheating the election and told the official to ‘run’ and ‘hide.’” (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
“The indictment alleges that the defendant accused the official of cheating the election and told the official to ‘run’ and ‘hide,’” Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri said in the statement.
In one voicemail, the defendant said: “You wanna cheat our elections? You wanna screw Americans out of true votes? We’re coming, (expletive),” according to the indictment.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The case is part of a U.S. Justice Department task force that investigates threats of violence against election officials, workers and volunteers.
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A black bear was caught on camera roaming the yards of multiple Glendale homes Friday.
Video provided by a viewer shows the bear climbing onto a wall on the 3300 block of Paraiso Way, down the street from Valley View Elementary School, at around 4:15 p.m. The bear then sidesteps a gate and leaps down into the home’s backyard.
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A black bear hops a wall and jumps into a Glendale backyard on July 17, 2026. (Viewer-submitted video)
Glendale Police Department officers were seen following the bear as it made its way through the neighborhood. A resident had a brief encounter with the bear while they were walking their dog, the viewer who provided the video told KTLA. The resident, dog and bear were all unharmed, they said.
Residents in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains have said that bear sightings are more frequent since the Eaton Fire, which burned more than 14,000 acres in the Altadena area.
Watch footage of the bear in the video at the top of this story.
The driver of a Tesla Cybertruck was arrested for driving under the influence early Saturday morning following a pursuit that ended in a crash. According to a California Highway Patrol spokesperson, their officers were assisting the Los Angeles Police Department when the pursuit terminated along the westbound span of the 118 Freeway near De Soto […]
“Moana” has been called a box office flop, an unnecessary money grab by Walt Disney Studios, but what it hasn’t been called yet is a triumphant win for cultural representation on the big screen.
The live-action adaptation of the beloved 2016 animated movie “Moana” effectively bombed at the box office, making much less money than industry insiders anticipated.
While it failed to live up to the expectations of the box office and critics alike, the film did exceed the expectations of moviegoers of Pacific Island descent, and they’ve taken to social media to express just how much the movie means to them.
Moana is more than the main character’s name. It means ocean across several Pacific Islander languages.
One user explained how this kind of representation is more than entertainment.
“When I watched ‘Moana,’ I couldn’t hold back my tears. I heard the language of my parents, the language of my people. I saw our traditional Samoan clothing, our weaving, our siva, our culture, our values. I saw my people. I saw me.”
Another user said seeing Pacific Islanders on the silver screen influenced her own artistry.
“Representation matters. As a sometimes-Female-Polynesian-filmmaker (depending on the day and my imposter syndrome), seeing our stories on a screen this big makes me dream a little bigger too.”
Even the film’s star, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, spoke to the film’s representation in a recent Instagram post.
“I feel that our movie ‘Moana’ will always serve a bigger purpose than just a film – it’s representation. Our Polynesian culture showcased to the world, and embraced by the world – with love, humility, warrior spirit and MANA.”
That representation was taken as a serious responsibility by the actors and creative team behind the scenes of Disney’s latest live-action remake.
“We got chosen for a reason,” Rena Owen, who plays Gramma Tala in the film, explains.
“Every single one of us, whether that’s an actor, whether that’s a creative, whether that’s a crew person. We’re raised that way, we’re raised in villages and we’re raised… on our earth, with our sky father and our moana, that’s what we all have in common. So, we just had to be ourselves.”
Disney once again leaned on members of its Oceanic Cultural Trust, a group formed over a decade ago to ensure cultural accuracy for the first “Moana” movie.
The trust’s lead consultant, Dr. Grant Muāgututiʻa, spoke about the work that went into bringing Moana to life on screen.
“We have a big responsibility to our folks who are gonna be watching the film. We’re elated that the film crew and the filmmakers were really receptive to all of the input that we had and we’re really happy with the way it turned out.”
Dr. Muāgututiʻa is a linguist by trade, serving as Assistant Professor of Linguistics at California State University San Marcos. He told KTLA he was thrilled that people of Samoan descent can hear their language spoken in a major Disney film.
“The mountaintop scene where you can hear both Jon Tui, who plays Chief Tui, and Catherine Laga’aia, who plays Moana speaking Samoan. And then the Siva Tau scene, where Seiuli Dwayne Johnson also speaks Samoan. I think those are special moments that are new, especially for our people to see. They’re able to experience real islanders that are proud of their culture.”
“Moana” Choreographer and Cultural Trust member Tiana Nonosina Liufau agreed.
“Seeing an all-Pasifika cast, and hearing them, there’s a lot of Mana in that, hearing these words come out of their mouth, something audiences can trace back to their genealogy, that’s priceless. All worth it.”
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