We recently received our new Global Entry card after having our interview at LAX upon returning from an international trip.

In the future, I would skip getting Global Entry and use the Mobile Passport app. You save the $100 for five years, plus the time you spend for the Global Entry process. The app is free, and similar to Global Entry in that upon your arrival from an international trip, there is a separate line for Mobile app with no waiting.

We used this application and got through the entry process at LAX before our friends who had Global Entry.

If you want TSA PreCheck, which gives you expedited passage through airport security, you can still get that for $85 for five years.

Click Here: Italy Football Shop

Joanne Kennedy
Camarillo

Real ID

Thanks for the consistent reports about Real ID. Because my brother may be getting married in Pennsylvania and my driver’s license doesn’t expire until 2022, I broke down and made an appointment with the California Department of Motor Vehicles for a Real ID.

I had The Times articles cut out and filed away, plus I had, through the reporting on these stories, additional information about all the forms of ID and proof of citizenship required. The DMV also requested that I fill out an application online.

When I got to the DMV and the lane for people with appointments, they stopped taking people with appointments to take people in other lines. Delays aside, when I got to my DMV official for review of my documents, she said: “Finally, someone who knows how to follow directions.” All I could think of was the reporting in the L.A. Times.

Just be mindful that they do not accept credit cards; it’s cash or debit card only.

F. Phillips
Woodland Hills

::
I have enjoyed reading the Travel section for many years, especially those stories written by Catharine Hamm.

The one on Global Entry slowdown was right on [On the Spot, Sept. 29]. I know because I have been waiting more than six months for my renewal card. I paid my $100 and filled out all the forms online. I have tried calling and calling to no avail. I was told to keep calling. In doing that, it is impossible to reach a live person.

In that article, Hamm gives a website (ttp.cbp.dhs.gov) to check for your application status. That too is a joke. I could not find the status of my application. I cannot believe this government program could be so [messed] up.

If anyone can tell me how to get my entry card, please do.

Seymour Strauss
Los Angeles

Companies that harvest human organs, bones and other parts have worked their way into government morgues across the country to gain access to more bodies. The companies’ procurement teams often are taking body parts before coroners are able to conduct an autopsy, even in the midst of sensitive investigations such as possible homicides.

A Times Investigation

Full Coverage

The procurement companies say there has never been a case in which a death investigation has been harmed by the procurement of body parts. Yet The Times found more than two dozen such cases in just two Southern California morgues. Reporters found nearly as many other cases across the country.

At least one murder prosecution has been dropped, civil lawsuits have been thwarted and families have been left without answers of why their loved ones died. At times, investigators could not look for abuse or violent injuries because bones and skin were already gone. A possible police-involved death remains unsolved.

Here are some other key findings:

An industry shaped a law

The number of flawed investigations has increased after the industry that trades in human body parts helped write legislation that required coroners to “cooperate” with the companies to “maximize” the numbers of organs and tissues harvested for transplant. The companies’ lobbyists then helped push the legislation into law in many states.

The new laws made it harder, and in some states, impossible for coroners to stop the procurement of body parts if they believed it would harm their investigation.

To pass the laws, the companies’ lobbyists pointed to published research papers that concluded body parts could be taken before the coroner’s autopsy with no harm to the death investigation. The Times found the papers were co-written by industry executives and others with ties to the companies.

Medical examiners and coroners were outraged in 2007 when the procurement companies helped write the laws. The forensic officials said they had been shut out of discussions where the legislation was drafted. Since then, the procurement companies have tried to soothe that anger. The companies are now among the biggest funders of gatherings of the nation’s death investigators, often paying for cocktails, dinners and rounds of golf.

It’s not just about lifesaving organs

The procurement companies said the laws were needed to increase the number of organs available for patients waiting for transplants. Yet it has done far more to grow the amount of bone, skin, fat and other human parts sold by the biotech industry, including for cosmetic fixes.

The sale of Americans’ body parts around the globe is now a multibillion-dollar business, in which less than half a teaspoon of ground skin can fetch $434. That product and more are used by cosmetic surgeons to plump lips, cheeks and other parts.

You may not get to decide

Even if you have not signed up to be a donor, the companies can harvest your parts when you die if they can persuade your grieving family to allow it.

When you die, a procurement company will be quickly notified. Hospitals must report every death to the companies for possible harvesting. Many companies now also know immediately about deaths outside of hospitals through connections to government computers in county morgues. At times, the companies have contacted families, asking them to agree to procurement, while the body is still at the death scene.

Some families say they feel the companies misled them into agreeing to procurements. Some say they were not told the donation of organs or tissues could harm the coroner’s ability to determine the cause of death.

Coroners rely on the companies

Coroners are increasingly dependent on the companies’ procurement teams to document injuries from violence or accidents even though the employees have little professional training in forensic science.

The companies have 24-hour access to many county morgues, raising questions about whether evidence could be tainted.

The Times found several suspicious deaths that may have been caused by violence or accidents that were not reported to coroners by procurement companies or the hospitals working with them. Failure to report such deaths is illegal under California law. It’s impossible to know how many other unnatural deaths may have never been reported.

Some procurement companies have tried to keep their work in the county morgues secret. Several worked with coroners in at least two California counties to try to keep The Times from reviewing how procurements were affecting coroner autopsies. Reporters instead combed through death records previously obtained from the coroners to find and review cases in which body parts were harvested.

Click Here: Spain Football Shop

Click:reaction flywheel

The fleeting sight of Stoney Point, a collection of flaky sandstone boulders north of Los Angeles, spurred a teenage Royal Robbins to hop off a freight train and get climbing. It was the ‘50s, and the legendary rock climber saw his destiny in those cliffs.

“I went there often because I could picture the future, which was big mountains, and this was a way of getting to the big mountains,” Robbins told an outdoors writer during a return visit in 2012. “And so I would go to Stoney and develop myself, develop my strength and my abilities in ways I never knew I could do.”

Robbins, who grew up in Southern California, went on to pioneer ascents on many big-wall routes, including Yosemite’s Half Dome and El Capitan in the 1960s.

Stoney Point, more than half a century later, despite the graffiti and broken glass, continues to awaken and inspire new generations of rock climbers, now drawn from cushy indoor gyms rather than passing trains.

Climbing book author Damon Corso, 39, understands the allure of the rocks — and the value of learning bouldering, top-roping and lead climbing in a safe, indoor setting.

“Go to a gym, see if you enjoy it, rent the equipment, get instruction for cheap, and then take your skills outdoors,” says Corso, who taught his wife to climb indoors. “You can probably make the transition outside quickly.”

Fabi Chillino grew up in the flatlands of western Germany and didn’t touch real rock until he had three years of climbing on plastic handholds indoors under his belt. Now he’s a professional climbing guide based in San Diego who takes climbers on routes from Joshua Tree to the Sierra.

“I still go to gyms to train,” Chillino says. “But getting outside in the sun on real rock is what I love to do and share with others.”

Here are a handful of Southern California’s outdoor hot spots that offer good starter routes for beginners and challenges for experts. You can go with a group or a guide, or take a class with a pro.

Chatsworth

Stoney Point Park is L.A.’s go-to outdoors gym for climbing with ropes and bouldering without ropes. The beginner boulders are relatively small (around 15 feet tall), and climbers usually place crash pads on the ground to cushion falls.

The rock is sandstone, which Corso said can be flaky and prone to breaking off for several days after it rains. A classic starter climb here is the Three Pigs route on the popular Boulder 1, where crowds gather most days of the week. Kodas Corner and Powerglide are less crowded but more difficult routes.

Info: Stoney Point Park (laparks.org/park/stoney-point) is on Topanga Canyon Boulevard between Chatsworth Street and the 118 Freeway. Look for Boulder 1 on the left as you enter the gate; other climbing routes are farther inside the park.

Calabasas

Malibu Creek State Park in the Santa Monica Mountains has a rich cinematic history, providing a dramatic backdrop for movies such as “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969) and 1970s TV shows “Planet of the Apes” and “MASH.” Most of the land for the state park was donated by Bob Hope, adding later purchases from then-actor Ronald Reagan and 20th Century Fox.

Click Here: Spain Football Shop

From the top of the rocks, you’ll take in sweeping views of the surrounding mountains all the way to the Pacific Ocean. A good warm-up climb is a route called Chopping Block, which you’ll find just beyond the main creek crossing in what’s called the Stumbling Blocks area. This relatively gentle ascent of 75 feet starts atop a large tumbled block. You’ll find a good midrange climb, Planet of the Apes, on the wall of the same name, which also rises about 75 feet.

If you really want to test your mettle, go to the difficult Ghetto Blaster route on the Ghetto Wall, a 60-foot ascent that starts on a steep apron of rock and leads to a good under-cling hold (imagine lifting a table) for moving laterally and then ascending.

Info: Malibu Creek State Park (malibucreekstatepark.org), 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas; parking costs $12 per day. Expect to walk to climbing spots; it’s about a three-quarter-mile hike from the parking lot to the rocks.

Malibu

Point Dume State Beach is one of the most scenic places to climb in L.A. County. It’s a volcanic monolith with some conglomerate sprinkled in that juts out from the Malibu coast and rises about 70 feet above the ocean and a sandy beach. Novices and intermediates come because it’s a great place to learn the basics of roped climbing. The rock face can get crowded on weekends, however, so a midweek visit may be a better idea.

Bonus: From December to March, you might see migrating gray whales while you’re halfway up a route.

One of the best starter climbs is called Arete, which ascends around 65 feet, and has fun edges and small pockets that often allow climbers a hold of only one to three fingers. Center Route is a midrange climb that requires more technical skills and balance to ascend along a depression in the wall on thin flakes and edges.

Info: Point Dume State Beach is at Cliffside Drive and Birdview Avenue in Malibu.

Angeles National Forest

Horse Flats offers something a little more lofty, as in 6,200 feet, well over a mile above Los Angeles. It has huge granite boulders and excellent opportunities for climbing.

One of the best warm-up climbs is Thin Crack, a 15-foot ascent in the Main Area to the left of the popular B1 Boulder. You start on a large block in the main crack and layback climb up the crack about 15 feet, all the way to the top where there are lots of granite protrusions to grab onto. To get there, you’ll need to hike about three-quarters of a mile on the Mt. Hillyer Trail from the campground.

More difficult is the B1 Face, which starts on a large flake and makes long moves right to another flake and then finally up to a few sloping crimps (small holds). The final move to a large hold on the lip of the boulder leads to an easy “mantle” maneuver. Total height is around 14 feet. The harder test piece, the Sword of Damocles, follows a sloping right arete (corner) and requires a huge jump to the top lip. Bring your crash pad because many good climbers miss this move and come plummeting down.

Info: Head to Horse Flats Campground (bit.ly/horseflats), a 29-mile drive north from La Cañada Flintridge on the Angeles Crest Highway, to Santa Clara Divide Road. Take the road and drive three miles south.

Valyermo

Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area is often described as one of the county’s hidden gems. Nestled into the northern foothills of the San Gabriel mountain range, this park is blessed with white sandstone strata, pushed skyward by the geologic activity of the San Andreas fault and other nearby fault lines.

Climbers who want to work on their slab technique might want to give this beautiful spot where the high desert meets the mountains a try. Some of the popular routes in the natural area include Tenacious, Velcro and Water Cracks, all of which are on a large north-facing formation on the south side of Devils Punchbowl called Very Direct Wall. There are many single-pitch routes here as well as several multipitch routes. The wall is easy to find; it’s the first big rock you’ll see on the trail into the South Area. It rises directly from the south side of the creek.

Info: 28000 Devil’s Punchbowl Road; bit.ly/devilspunchbowlclimbs

Westlake Village

Echo Cliffs is tucked into an inner valley in the Santa Monica Mountains. The volcanic and conglomerate rocks draw lots of climbers who take on numerous and varied routes, from short and easy to long and technical, with vertical faces and steep overhangs.

A nice warm-up for the day is Miss Pacman, which you’ll find in the Grotto as you descend off the main trail into the canyon. Starting to the right of a tree, this route climbs up the middle of the block about 45 feet, following good pockets and flakes. Next to it is the appropriately named Game Boy. Nearby on the same cliff is Java Wall, which hosts some of the nicest endurance vertical climbs in the canyon.

Climbers have to hike about 45 minutes to find these routes, but it’s worth it.

Info: To get to Echo Cliffs (bit.ly/echocliffsclimb) from Yerba Buena Road, take the Mishe Mokwa Trail and follow the streambed to the climbing areas.

HOW TO GET STARTED

Being a rock star at your climbing gym doesn’t mean you can go it alone in the outdoors. REI, which offers climbing classes and stocks lots of gear, recommends these steps to start out. Learn more at bit.ly/REIrockclimbingbasics

▶ Find a qualified guide — at outdoor stores that offer classes and training, local climbing associations or indoor gyms.

▶ Identify the type of climbing you want to try, such as bouldering or top-rope climbing, which involves ropes and fixed anchors.

▶ Make sure you have the right gear, such as clothing, helmet, rock-climbing shoes, etc.

▶ Choose a route you want to conquer that’s equal to your skill level.

FUJISAWA, Japan — 

Rescue efforts for people stranded in flooded areas were in full force Sunday after a powerful typhoon dashed heavy rainfall and winds through a widespread area of Japan, including Tokyo.

Typhoon Hagibis made landfall south of Tokyo on Saturday and moved northward.

The typhoon left seven people dead, 15 missing and more than 100 people injured, according to public broadcaster NHK. The numbers were growing, underlining the damage from Hagibis, which means “speed” in the Philippine language of Tagalog.

News footage showed a rescue helicopter hovering in a flooded area in Nagano prefecture after an embankment of the Chikuma River broke, plucking people from the second floor of a home submerged in muddy waters.

Several other rivers had also overflowed, including Tama River near Tokyo, according to NHK.

Authorities warned that the risk of mudslides remained.

Some train service in the Tokyo area, much of which had halted, resumed in the early morning, although other lines were undergoing safety checks and were expected to start later in the day.

The World Rugby Cup match between Namibia and Canada, scheduled for Sunday in Kamaishi, northern Japan, was canceled as a precautionary measure for safety reasons.

An earthquake shook the rain-drenched area shortly before the typhoon made landfall in Shizuoka prefecture on Saturday evening. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.3 quake was centered in the ocean off the coast of Chiba, near Tokyo, and was fairly deep, at 37 miles. Deep quakes tend to cause less damage than shallow ones.

Forecasters had said that the typhoon was expected to be Japan’s worst in six decades.

“Be ready for rainfall of the kind that you have never experienced,” said meteorological agency official Yasushi Kajihara, adding that areas usually safe from disasters may prove vulnerable.

“Take all measures necessary to save your life,” he said.

Kajihara said people who live near rivers should take shelter on the second floor or higher of any sturdy building if an officially designated evacuation center wasn’t easily accessible. He also expressed fears that disaster may have already struck in some areas.

Click Here: New Zealand rugby store

Hagibis advanced north-northwestward with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph Saturday evening, according to the meteorological agency. It was traveling toward Tokyo and northern Japan at 22 mph.

The storm brought heavy rainfall in wide areas of Japan all day ahead of its landfall, including in Shizuoka and Mie prefectures, southwest of Tokyo, as well as Chiba to the north.

Heavy rain caused rivers to swell, flipped anchored boats and whipped up a dangerous surge along the coast, flooding some neighborhoods and leaving people to wade in ankle-deep water amid floating cars.

In Shizuoka, one of two men who went missing in the Nishikawa River was rescued, Gotemba city official Fumihiko Katsumata said. Firefighters said the two men were working at a river canal to try to control overflowing water when they were swept away.

Yusuke Ikegaya, a Shizuoka resident who evacuated ahead of the storm, said he was surprised that the nearby river was about to overflow in the morning, hours before the typhoon made landfall.

“In the 28 years of my life, this is the first time I’ve had to evacuate even before a typhoon has landed,” he said.

Authorities also warned of mudslides, common in mountainous Japan.

Shiroyama dam in Kanagawa prefecture, also southwest of Tokyo, and three other dams may release some of their waters, which were nearing limits, NHK reported. An overflowing dam is likely to cause greater damage, so releasing some water gradually is a standard emergency measure.

About 17,000 police and military troops were called up, standing ready for rescue operations.

The typhoon disrupted a three-day weekend in Japan that includes Sports Day on Monday. Qualifying for a Formula One auto race in Suzuka was delayed. The Defense Ministry cut a three-day annual navy review to a single day on Monday.

All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines grounded most domestic and international flights at the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya airports. Central Japan Railway Co. canceled bullet train service between Tokyo and Osaka except for several early Saturday trains connecting Nagoya and Osaka. Tokyo Disneyland was closed, while Ginza department stores and smaller shops throughout Tokyo were shuttered.

A typhoon that hit the Tokyo region in 1958 left more than 1,200 people dead and half a million houses flooded.

Four people were killed and three others were wounded in an early Saturday shooting at an illegal gambling club in New York City, police said.

The six men and one woman were shot just before 7 a.m. inside a building in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said four men were dead at the scene and the others were taken to hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening.

The victims, who have not been identified, ranged in age from 32 to 49, Shea said at a briefing near the shooting. Two may have lived out of state and the rest were from neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn, Shea added.

One additional person was injured fleeing.

No arrests have been made, and police do not know the motive for the shootings, Shea said. He said two guns were recovered at the scene and more could be found.

Click Here: New Zealand rugby store

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter that the city “awoke to senseless gun violence.”

The Democrat added, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until I can’t anymore: we have an epidemic of gun violence that spares no community — and it won’t stop until we get guns off our streets once and for all.”

The shooting was the second mass killing in New York in a week in a city that has seen a marked drop in homicides in recent years. Four homeless men were beaten to death by another homeless man Oct. 5 in Manhattan’s Chinatown. In 2000, there were more than 600 homicides in the city. Last year, there were fewer than 300.

A sign on the building where the bloodshed occurred says Triple A Aces. Shea said there was “evidence of gambling” including cards and dice inside.

The gambling operation was unlicensed but police had not previously received any complaints about the location, Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison said.

Crime scene tape surrounded the building Saturday morning and investigators in white jumpsuits could be seen going in and out.

The block where the shots rang out has empty storefronts and boarded-up buildings as well as renovated town houses.

MEXICO CITY — 

Mexican authorities on Saturday thwarted the latest caravan of migrants attempting to head north from southern Mexico with the hope of reaching the United States.

Some 2,000 migrants from various nations — including Central American and African countries, Haiti and Cuba — set off on foot in the predawn hours from the southern Mexican city of Tapachula.

It was the first such caravan since early 2019, as Mexico — under pressure from the Trump administration to curb U.S.-bound migration thorough its territory — has cracked down on Central Americans and others seeking to reach the United States.

On Saturday, the northbound caravan met a phalanx of Mexican authorities, including National Guard and federal police units along the highway at a point about 25 miles north of Tapachula. The enforcement presence prompted almost half the caravan members — including many women and children — to surrender to Mexican immigration authorities.

Those detained were to be transported to a detention facility in Tapachula and attended to in a “personal manner,” Mexican immigration authorities said in a statement. Those detained would have an opportunity to apply for refugee status or other legal status in Mexico, authorities said.

While many caravan participants surrendered, others scattered and veered from the highway at the point where authorities blocked the northbound route and sought to continue their journey on side roads, circumventing the enforcement cordon.

Thousands of migrants seeking to reach U.S. territory — more than 1,000 miles to the north — have been stuck in Tapachula for months as Mexican officials have been hesitant to hand out visas allowing them to continue north. Most entered Mexico from Guatemala. The migrants stranded in Tapachula are mostly Central Americans but include others from the Caribbean, South America, Africa and Asia.

Mexico has responded to pressure from the Trump administration to curb third-country migration by bolstering enforcement in southern Mexico and posting National Guard troops along northbound highways and along entry routes on the Guatemalan border. The Mexican effort has contributed to a sharp reduction of migrants arriving to the U.S. border in recent months, U.S. authorities say.

Mexico has also accelerated detentions and deportations of undocumented migrants in response to White House threats to impose tariffs on Mexican goods exported to the United States.

Last year, as thousands of migrants began to head north in caravans from Central America, Mexico initially did little to block the northbound odyssey. Trump denounced the caravans as an “invasion” and threatened economic retaliation against Mexico if it did not do more to deter the migration.

The government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office Dec. 1, has yielded to White House pressure to crack down on northbound migration via Mexican territory. Trump has praised Mexico’s efforts to help implement his hard-line immigration strategy.

Special correspondent Juan de Dios in Tapachula and Cecilia Sanchez in The Times’ Mexico City bureau contributed.

Click Here: pinko shop cheap

Watch Maddison Brown channel old Hollywood glamour in this light-hearted video for Vogue and Piaget166891

Covered head to toe in sparkling jewels by Piaget, Australian actor Maddison Brown explores what life would be like as an old Hollywood star in this humorous video.

• 04 Oct 2019

Share

10th Oct 2019

“Thanks for coming, by the way, to my humble abode,” says Australian actor Maddison Brown as she greets the camera in-character as an old Hollywood starlet. “I love coming home and spending time in Australia, I love spending time in my garden, it really is my sanctuary,” she shares as she trims the hedges in the grounds of her Sydney mansion, while dripping in Piaget jewellery

While it’s easy to imagine the model-turned-Dynasty star in this setting, enjoying an off-duty moment in diamond earrings, in fact, Brown is playing a part. With more than 442,000 followers on Instagram and a season of a cult TV show up her sleeve, Brown is surprisingly down to earth, and yet, that’s what makes this video all the more fun. Having settled into her role as Kirby Anders on Dynasty, Brown has proved no role is too difficult for her to immerse herself in and so we invited her to take this to the next level, exaggerating her own story of success in Hollywood in this daring video.

“Fans of mine include the likes of Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson,” she rattles off. “People often do tell me that I’m talented and my response is always I would never say that I’m talented, I would say that I’m very talented,” Brown adds, demonstrating one of her many talents as she plays a grand piano with her Piaget timepiece on show.

As Brown knows, Piaget is a classic brand born out of the late 1800s and has been at home in the wardrobe of glamorous Hollywood stars for centuries. The Swiss luxury watchmaker and jeweller, founded in 1874 in La Côte-aux-Fées, has just released its new timepiece collection, Limelight Gala, inspired by one of its historic watches from the golden age of Hollywood — the 1960s — and reimagined for the modern woman. Brown perfectly encapsulates this iconic style, accessorising her timepiece — and her many outfits — in this video with Piaget’s Possession and Sunlight collections. These pieces speak to a sense of timelessness, something Brown channels with her natural beauty and her radiance both on and off screen. In particular, Brown favours the hoop earrings from the Sunlight collection, which are set with 90 diamonds that are designed to shimmer to emulate the look of the sun reflected on water.

Brown’s own rise to fame has been swift and so it’s easy to imagine her encapsulating this glamour and the essence of celebrity — but this video proves there might just be more to her than meets the eye.

“You’re still here? Let’s wrap it up,” Brown says in scene-stealing fashion. Watch the light-hearted video above and prepare to channel your own inner starlet in picture-perfect Piaget pieces. 

SACRAMENTO — 

After a string of mass shootings across the country this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday toughened California’s already strict gun control laws, signing a raft of bills that broadly expand the state’s “red flag” law and limit the purchase of semiautomatic rifles by individuals to one per month.

Newsom, who was elected last year on a campaign that promised strict limits on firearms, signed 15 bills passed in response to recent mass shootings.

“This continues California’s leadership in terms of gun safety,” Newsom said at a state Capitol bill-signing ceremony.

Click Here: liverpool mens jersey

“Gun violence is an epidemic in this country, one that’s been inflamed by the inaction of politicians in Washington,” Newsom added.

The measure restricting purchases, Senate Bill 61, prohibits Californians from buying more than one semiautomatic rifle per month and is one of two gun bills by state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D–La Cañada Flintridge). It also bans the sale of semiautomatic centerfire rifles to people younger than 21, removing a provision of the law that allowed younger people to buy such guns if they have a hunting license.

“Our efforts to keep high-capacity weapons out of the hands of teenagers, continuing to close loopholes in law, and working with the DOJ and governor’s office this past year on this slate of bills is important and appropriate work that will continue to make our communities safer,” Portantino said Friday.

The restrictions on gun buying were opposed by groups representing gun owners, including the National Rifle Assn. and its state affiliate, the California Rifle and Pistol Assn.

“This bill places burdens on law-abiding residents,” said Amy Hunter, a spokeswoman for the NRA, about SB 61. “It will not make anyone safer.”

Another Portantino measure signed by Newsom reduces the number of firearms an unlicensed individual is able to sell each year and the frequency with which they are able to sell.

“It is my hope that these bills can prevent a future horrendous violent situation,” Portantino said.

Newsom’s action comes just days after a new poll found that 68% of Californians say laws covering the sale of guns should be stricter. The poll, released Oct. 2 by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, found that 38% of state residents said they are very concerned about the threat of a mass shooting in their area, up from 28% who had the same fear in a PPIC poll two years ago.

Republican legislators opposed the one-gun-a-month bill and criticized the state for failing to remove guns from the hands of thousands of felons and people judged by the court to be severely mentally ill as it is already empowered to do.

“Instead we continue to do more and more legislation that interferes with the law-abiding citizen’s right to own and possess firearms, which is their constitutional right to do,” said Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City).

The measure eliminating an exemption to the rifle-purchase ban for those under 21 who have hunting licenses was proposed after law enforcement discovered that the 19-year-old accused of opening fire at a synagogue in Poway had applied for a hunting license.

However, the license wasn’t valid at the time of the April shooting, which left one person dead and three injured.

A mass shooting that left 17 dead at a high school in Parkland, Fla., in 2018 was cited by lawmakers who approved legislation to expand “red flag” laws that allow people to petition the courts to remove guns from persons judged a danger to themselves or others.

The law currently allows law enforcement and family members of troubled individuals to ask the courts to issue a “gun-violence restraining order” that takes away their firearms, but the measure signed Friday by Newsom adds teachers, school administrators, employers and co-workers to the list of those who may petition the courts to remove guns.

Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) introduced the bill after school officials said they had raised concerns about the behavior of the Parkland shooting suspect before the rampage in February 2018.

“Thoughts and prayers are no longer enough,” Ting said Friday. “With school and workplace shootings on the rise, it’s common sense to give the people we see every day the power to intervene and prevent tragedies.”

Most of the laws signed by the governor take effect Jan. 1, but Ting’s bill expanding gun-violence restraining orders becomes effective Sept. 1, 2020. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar measure last year, saying school employees and workers can work through family members or law enforcement if a restraining order is needed.

“I think law enforcement professionals and those closest to a family member are best situated to make these especially consequential decisions,” Brown wrote in his veto message.

Newsom said he was not familiar with his predecessor’s rationale but said that the expansion is justified and that other states and perhaps Congress will consider following California’s lead.

“What’s important is that this is another tool in the tool kit for those that know individuals the most,” Newsom told reporters. “There is a judicial process so there is due process.”

Newsom, who led the 2016 campaign that won voter approval of the gun control initiative Proposition 63, had signaled for months that he wanted to expand the state’s red-flag law.

Another measure signed by the governor extends the length of gun-violence restraining orders from one to five years.

Despite gun laws that are the strictest in the nation, California has seen its share of mass shootings, including one July 28 at the Gilroy Garlic Festival that left three people dead and 17 injured.

Within days of the Gilroy shooting, a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso and another man gunned down nine people outside a nightclub in Dayton, Ohio.

Newsom has reacted angrily to the carnage and demanded that Congress adopt national gun safety measures.

“I have no problem with the 2nd Amendment — you have a right to bear arms, but not weapons of goddamned mass destruction,” Newsom told reporters during a visit to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center after the Gilroy shooting.

Portantino and Newsom criticized the U.S. Congress on Friday for failing to take action of its own on gun violence.

“I am very pleased that California continues to lead the nation on gun control but saddened that, despite tragedy after tragedy, Washington remains incapable of acting on a national level in the best interests of all our communities,” Portantino said.

Other bills signed Friday by Newsom will:

• Allow those subject to a gun-violence restraining order to submit a form to the court voluntarily relinquishing their firearm rights
• Require firearm packaging to contain a warning statement on suicide prevention
• Mandate that county sheriffs who issue licenses for concealed weapons charge a fee covering the cost of vetting the applicant, thus eliminating the current $100 cap on fees
• Prohibit gun shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego County
• Require, starting in 2024, that the sale of components used to build a firearm — often used to build untraceable “ghost guns” — be carried out through a licensed vendor.

WASHINGTON — 

The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has announced sites and dates for three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, to be held just weeks before election day in 2020.

The presidential debates are set for Sept. 29 at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.; Oct. 15 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Oct. 22 at Belmont University in Nashville.

One vice presidential debate has been scheduled, for Oct. 7 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

The commission says that to qualify for the debates, candidates must appear on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning a majority in the electoral college and have at least 15% support nationally in five polls chosen in advance by the commission.

Click Here: liverpool mens jersey

SACRAMENTO — 

California will become the first state in the nation to require public universities to provide access to abortion pills on campus under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday.

Senate Bill 24 by state Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) will go into effect in 2023, with the University of California and California State University systems required to offer students medical abortions. A medical abortion is a nonsurgical way to terminate a pregnancy that involves taking two prescription pills hours apart during a woman’s first 10 weeks of pregnancy to induce a miscarriage. It is different than the morning-after pill, which releases a high dose of a synthetic hormone found in birth control pills that delays or stops the release of an egg.

“As other states and the federal government go backward, restricting reproductive freedom, in California we are moving forward, expanding access and reaffirming a woman’s right to choose,” Newsom said in a written statement.

“We’re removing barriers to reproductive health — increasing access on college campuses and using technology to modernize how patients interact with providers.”

University healthcare centers currently refer students to off-campus facilities for abortion services when requested. Supporters of the bill said students, particularly those without cars, have a difficult time getting to off-campus health facilities or paying for the cost of the medication.

A 2018 study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health estimated that 322 to 519 students at California’s public universities seek medical abortions each month. The average cost of a medical abortion was $604 and 62% of students were more than 30 minutes away from the closest abortion facility when using public transportation.

“The clinic closest to my campus was almost 11 miles away and a 45-minute bus ride one way,” said Zoe Murray, a recent UC Santa Barbara graduate who sought an abortion three years ago while she was a sophomore at the school. “Not every student has a car on campus and certainly not every student can afford to miss classes, their jobs or their families for that much time.”

Last year, then-Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar measure, saying the bill was “not necessary” because abortion services were “widely available” to students at off-campus clinics. After Brown’s veto, Newsom — then the state’s lieutenant governor and in the midst of his gubernatorial campaign — said he would have signed Leyva’s bill.

The bill requires the use of $10.3 million that has been raised from private donors to pay for operating costs. Newsom’s Department of Finance opposed SB 24, saying private funds were likely to fall short of what would be needed to offer services at the 34 public universities in the state. Student health centers at public universities in the state already offer gynecological exams, birth control, pregnancy counseling and other healthcare, but not abortion services.

“In a time when states across our country are rolling back women’s healthcare and access to abortion, California continues to lead the nation to protect every individual’s right to choose,” Leyva said in a statement.

The bill was opposed by conservative and religious groups. In an open letter, Bishop Jaime Soto, president of the California Catholic Conference, urged all Catholics and other Christians to pray for SB 24 to be defeated in order to protect “infants and young college-age women from the scourge of abortion.”

Newsom also signed legislation that streamlines access to birth control medication provided by Planned Parenthood, allowing women to be prescribed the drugs through an app on a smartphone. Prior to the signing of the bill, the assumption was that California law required use of videoconferencing for long-distance prescriptions.

Click Here: liverpool mens jersey