West
Slain California fire captain's fugitive wife nabbed in Mexico, returns to US to face no-nonsense prosecutor
The suspect and fugitive wife of a beloved slain California fire captain made her first court appearance and is one step closer to learning her fate.
Following her arraignment hearing on Wednesday afternoon, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, 53, is being charged with murder in the stabbing death of her spouse, Rebecca “Becky” Marodi, 49.
Stephan’s office said Olejniczak Marodi pleaded not guilty at Wednesday’s hearing.
Olejniczak Marodi is being held without bail and, if convicted, faces 25 years-to-life in prison.
WIFE OF SLAIN CALIFORNIA FIRE CAPTAIN RECEIVES MEDICAL TREATMENT PRIOR TO JAIL BOOKING
Yolanda Marodi is pictured left following her arrest in Mexico. Pictured right, Yolanda Marodi with Rebecca Marodi. (Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat / Yolanda Marodi/Facebook)
On Sunday, authorities in Mexico nabbed Olejniczak Marodi, who had been on the run for over a month since being named the suspect in Rebecca Marodi’s death on February 17.
“I want to thank the Sheriff’s Office for their thorough investigation and law enforcement on both sides of the border for locating and arresting this dangerous defendant so she could be returned to San Diego and face justice for this deadly crime,” Stephan shared in a news release.
Investigators are still working to gather more information to determine the circumstances and motivation behind Capt. Marodi’s death.
“Rebecca Marodi was a beloved Fire Captain who devoted her life to protecting others, including recently battling the Eaton fire near Los Angeles and the capture of her killer will begin the court process with today’s arraignment. When the U.S. Marshals’ San Diego Fugitive Task force is looking for violent criminals, they can run but they can’t hide as we saw in this case,” Stephan continued.
Yolanda was allegedly seen on surveillance video arguing with Rebecca and physically assaulting her on the day of the fatal stabbing.
WIFE OF SLAIN CALIFORNIA FIRE CAPTAIN NABBED IN MEXICO AFTER WEEKS ON THE RUN
The suspect accused of killing her wife, Cal Fire Captain Rebecca Marodi, in an alleged domestic incident in San Diego County was arrested in Baja California, Mexico, over a month later. (FOX 5/KUSI)
An arrest warrant, obtained by KABC, details that Rebecca told Yolanda she was leaving her and ending their marriage nearly a week before she was murdered.
Detectives said that a voice could be heard yelling out, “Yolanda, please, I don’t want to die.” The report read that Yolanda responded to Rebecca, saying, “You should have thought about that before,” while standing in front of Rebecca with what appeared to be a knife in her hand.”
Surveillance video captured Yolanda leaving the couple’s home before Rebecca’s mother arrived. Rebecca was found with several injuries to her neck, chest and back that authorities said were consistent with a stabbing.
SLAIN CALIFORNIA FIRE CAPTAIN’S FUGITIVE WIFE ‘SCARED’ EX MOTHER-IN-LAW
Authorities say the wife of California Fire Captain Rebecca Marodi has been identified has a suspect in her murder. (Yolanda Marodi Facebook)
Yolanda also previously served more than 13 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter in the death of her then-husband, James Joseph Olejniczak Jr., before her release in 2013, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Investigators are still working to gather more information to determine the circumstances and motivation behind Capt. Marodi’s death.
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“This intimate partner homicide is a reminder that there are resources out there for individuals who are in fear for their safety,” Stephan said.
A status conference and bail review hearing are set for April 28, and a preliminary hearing is currently scheduled for June 24.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
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West
Supreme Court ruling on secretive California gender policy could reshape parent rights fights nationwide
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Parental rights advocates celebrated Monday after the Supreme Court temporarily stopped California from blocking school policies requiring parents to be told when their child identifies as transgender.
Corey DeAngelis, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital the high court’s order, in which the three liberal justices dissented, was a “huge win.” The decision marks the latest in a string of victories for conservatives seeking to tighten policies surrounding transgender people, though DeAngelis noted it only applies to California at this stage.
“Parents in California should be very excited that the law that they have on the books to keep secrets from parents will no longer be in effect,” DeAngelis said, adding, “This precedent is surely a sign of good things to come. If there’s a lawsuit that arises in another state, you can be pretty sure that the Supreme Court is going to rule on the side of families.”
The case, Mirabelli v. Bonta, arose from a lawsuit brought by California parents and teachers who argued that the state’s policy violated their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and religious freedom rights under the First Amendment. The parents said the policy prevented school administrators from telling them about their child’s potential efforts to engage in gender transitioning unless the child consented to it. The policy also required school staff to use a student’s preferred name and pronouns regardless of the parents’ wishes.
A protester holds a transgender pride flag outside the Supreme Court as it hears arguments in 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sided with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, an elected Democrat, the parents and teachers appealed to the Supreme Court, and on an expedited and temporary basis, the high court vacated that order while the case proceeds through the lower courts.
“The State argues that its policies advance a compelling interest in student safety and privacy,” the high court wrote in the unsigned order. “But those policies cut out the primary protectors of children’s best interests: their parents.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks during a news conference. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, wrote in a dissent that the temporary order was a sign that the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, sometimes known as a shadow docket, continued to “malfunction.”
Attorneys for California argued that balancing the interests of parents and the “needs of transgender students” presented complex questions.
“In this case, the district court entered a sweeping permanent injunction that would require instant, dramatic changes from the status quo,” California attorneys wrote. “Currently, under California’s laws and constitutional provisions on privacy and antidiscrimination, schools may balance parental interests with students’ particular needs and circumstances, such as the risk of harm upon disclosure of the student’s gender identity without student consent.”
DeAngelis said the Supreme Court’s ruling also bolstered the case for school choice, which allows the government to funnel public education funds to schools parents want to send their children to that are not necessarily the designated public school in their neighborhood.
CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT LETS STUDENTS CHANGE NAMES AND GENDER IDENTITY IN SECRET FROM PARENTS
Facade of the Supreme Court on Oct. 3, 2024. (Valerie Plesch/picture alliance via Getty Images)
“It would be great if more areas, like California, that are controlled by Democrats had policies like school choice. … You should be able to take your child’s education dollars somewhere else, to a private school that’s more aligned with your values, maybe a charter school,” DeAngelis said.
He added that Monday’s decision was a “wake-up call for school choice policy as well, because parents may be upset about a lot of things in the public schools. Transparency is just the very bare minimum that the public schools in too many places aren’t getting right.”
Carrie Severino, president of the conservative JCN Network, said the 9th Circuit appeared to disregard the Supreme Court’s key ruling last year in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which allowed parents to opt their children out of lessons that involved gender ideology or other sensitive topics based on religious beliefs.
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“The liberal Ninth Circuit disregarded the Court’s ruling in Mahmoud,” Severino wrote. “Today, the justices reaffirmed the principles of its landmark ruling and said that California’s law substantially interferes with the ‘right of parents to guide the religious development of their children.’”
New York Times columnist David French also agreed with the high court’s decision.
“The idea that a school could withhold such key information about a child from the child’s parents (in the absence of evidence of abuse) was ludicrously unconstitutional from the beginning,” French wrote on X.
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San Francisco, CA
Celebrated San Francisco historic landmark, the Huntington Hotel officially reopens
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — First opened as apartments in 1922 and converted into a hotel two years later, the Huntington was once a playground for socialites and Hollywood stars.
It shut its doors in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and remained shuttered until this week, following new owners and a million-dollar, top-to-bottom renovation.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for The Huntington Hotel in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood Monday.
The hotel officially reopened on Sunday.
Mayor Daniel Lurie attended the celebration for the hotel on California Street.
“This is another sign that San Francisco is on the rise, when you have major institutions and major hotels reopening,” Lurie said. “We’re seeing it in Union Square. We’re seeing it now up here on Nob Hill. This is an exciting moment for San Francisco.”
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The hotel, known for its iconic sign, will be restoring the landmark sign to its former glory.
Many say it’s a symbol of what’s going on in San Francisco.
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“It came to symbolize San Francisco’s decline during COVID when it shut and it now, I think, symbolizes San Francisco’s rebirth,” said Greg Flynn, Flynn Group Founder, Chairman, and CEO. “It’s sort of the perfect symbol of it because it’s coming back better than it ever was.”
Alex Bastian, President and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco, said hotel occupancy rates are up in 2024.
“Our data team crunched the numbers, and the four-week rolling hotel occupancy rate for San Francisco Bay Area hotels is 55.1 percent as of January 17 of this year. Compare that to January 17 of 2021, during the pandemi,c when it was 13.1 percent.”
Of course, the Super Bowl helped.
Here’s what Super Bowl LX visitors are saying about San Francisco
“There’s no marketing campaign better than what we achieved as San Franciscans,” Bastian said. “The mayor and his team really elevated the game. They did an incredible job. We are so fortunate, as a city, because so many came here and they left their hearts here in San Francisco.”
Eyewitness News wasn’t allowed to gather video of the hotel’s features, but the hotel provided renderings of a sample room.
Matthew de Quillien, The Huntington Hotel General Manager, said the hotel has 143 rooms, many of them suites. Also, the Nob Hill Spa, Arabella’s Cocktail Salo,n and a reopening of The Big Four Restaurant, featuring its famous chicken pot pie.
“Our owner was able to find the original recipe from the 70’s and we remastered it and we’re … serving it to our guests,” de Quillien said.
He said rates range from $600 a night to $7,000 a night for its Presidential suite.
The restaurant opens to the public on March 17.
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Denver, CO
Former Avs defenseman launches beer brand in Denver
While most people know beers as “cold ones,” Tyson Barrie opts for a different name.
“We’ve always just called beers chilly ones,” the former Colorado Avalanche defenseman said.
Now, Barrie hopes his moniker goes mainstream with his beer brand Chilly Ones, which made its U.S. debut weeks ago in Colorado. He plans to move to the Centennial State from his home country of Canada come fall to build it out.
So far, the beer is in about 200 businesses across the state, mostly liquor stores like Bonnie Brae and Argonaut, but also eateries such as Oskar Blues.
The light lager is available in cans at 3% alcohol by volume. The less-than-light ABV is popular in Australia and some parts of Europe, he said, but nothing serves that segment in the U.S.
Barrie also said the brand has a nonalcoholic version “in the tanks and ready to go” at Sleeping Giant Brewing Co., the Denver facility where Chilly Ones is made. He said it’s one of the only booze-free options that could “trick” him, and he expects the version to be available by April.
“If you look at all the data that we’re seeing, these two categories – the nonalc and the low – seem to be two of the only ones in the alcohol space that are growing,” Barrie said.
Chilly Ones has been available in Canada since late 2025, and he said a 4.5% to 5% edition is also in the works, though that one won’t hit the shelves for months.
“From what we can see in Canada, people question the 3%. They say it’s not enough,” he said through a grin. “Then in the U.S., people aren’t questioning it at all. They really liked a little bit less and the moderation factor to it.”
That’s why he thinks the low-carb, zero sugar, under 100 calorie drink is a perfect fit for Denver. With the city’s storied history in craft beer combined with a more conscious, active lifestyle, it’s the perfect stateside launching point for his brand, Barrie believes.
Drafted by the Avs and playing in the city from 2011 through 2019, his preexisting connections also were a selling point.
“Every occasion is a little bit different, whether you’re parenting or you’re at a concert or you’ve got to get up early or you’re having two after work and you want to drive,” he said, explaining why there will be multiple versions of the drink available.
“It’s pick your own adventure. We’re not going to judge you,” he continued. “If you want to celebrate and get absolutely hammered, we’ll give you that option too. It’s just you can do it a little bit healthier.”
The idea came to Barrie when he had “a dozen” or so chilly ones during a night with friends years ago. In his phone’s notes app, he wrote that he would one day start a beverage brand with his NHL buddies and call it his colloquial name for beer.
He was still playing in the league at the point, but in 2024, two years after, somebody from the beverage world “very serendipitously” reached out to see if Barrie would be interested in starting a wine or whiskey company.
“And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’d do a beer,’” he recalled.
He was still in the NHL playing with the Nashville Predators but nearing the end of his career. The now-34-year-old gathered several of his fellow skaters, including Avs star Nathan MacKinnon, and other career connections like Lumineers frontman Wesley Schultz, and Chilly Ones was born.
Having that post-playing career journey already laid out has been challenging but worth it, he said.
“I have a lot of friends who have retired, and you struggle with a bit of purpose and you wake up and you’re just kind of looking around, not sure what to do with yourself,” he said. “So I feel grateful. I didn’t even have any time to reset. I was just kind of thrown in the fire.”
Barrie and Chilly Ones raised an undisclosed amount from friends and family to start the brand and are in the midst of a more institutional round.
He and Chilly Ones have no plans to venture outside the state in the short-term. He said he, Chief Operating Officer Kimberley Kainth and CEO Matthew Clayton want to test the market for all three options and get feedback before expanding elsewhere.
Longmont-based Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis is an adviser, along with White Claw and Mike’s Hard Lemonade alum Todd Anderson.
“We have a team that we really, really trust who has scaled and built products in Colorado and moved out,” Barrie said. “We want to get our feet under us in Colorado and then we’ll start to really look at who’s next.”
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