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NEW YORK — Donald Trump wants to make Hollywood “bigger, better and stronger” and has cast Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone as stars of what he is calling his “Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California.”On Wednesday, the President-elect announced on his social media site that the three actors would be his eyes and ears to the moviemaking town.“It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!” he wrote on Truth Social.FILE – President-elect Donald Trump greets actor Sylvester Stallone during an America First Policy Institute gala…

Austin Jones never backed down from a challenge when he was a player. And he seems willing to tackle them in his new life as a high school football coach.Former USC running back Austin Jones has been selected as the new football coach at Lakeside High School. At 23, he will be among the youngest football coaches in Inland Empire history.(File photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)Jones earlier this week was approved by the Lake Elsinore Unified School District as Lakeside High School’s new football coach. The selection of Jones will surprise some because he turns 24 next month and…

By Laura McMullen, NerdWalletNatural disasters, whether massive wildfires, hurricanes or floods, can upend lives in an instant, but unwinding the financial damage can take many months. Still, those affected have many sources of help.Here’s how you can get help and be strategic with your resources as you begin to rebuild after a disaster.Deal with immediate needs firstFirst things first: Contact the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get help via a disaster recovery center by texting “DRC” and your ZIP code to 43362. Texting “Apple” or “Android” to that same number will give you a download link for a mobile app from…

By MATTHEW BROWN, JENNIFER McDERMOTT and JACK DURA, Associated PressPresident-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for interior secretary told a Senate panel Thursday the U.S. can leverage development of fossil fuels and other energy sources to promote world peace and voiced concerns about the reliability of renewable power sources promoted under the Biden administration.Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum described Trump’s aspiration to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” as a way to counter demand for fossil fuels from autocratic nations — Russia, Iran and Venezuela — that have fewer environmental safeguards.Burgum also said the U.S. needs to make more “baseload” electricity from coal and other sources as…

As Southern California continues to grapple with the devastating wildfires and fallout of the past several days, the UFC comes to town looking to provide a distraction.In its fifth month of existence, Intuit Dome in Inglewood will host its first combat sports event Saturday, with UFC President and CEO Dana White hoping UFC 311 offers a respite from the chaos and calamity of the recent blazes that have destroyed lives and entire neighborhoods.“That’s kind of the vibe that I’ve been getting from people that are going,” White said on “The Jim Rome Show” on Wednesday. “They’re excited to go to…

Juan Carlos Perez watched his life unravel in a matter of days. The wind-fueled fire that swept through his Altadena neighborhood last week not only destroyed his family’s home but also the school his child attended – Aveson Charter School.As a former candidate for the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education, Perez knew the community well, but nothing could have prepared him for the loss.“As a parent, first and foremost, it’s been really hard because you realize just how much school in the community is so central to your child’s life,” Perez said Monday. “I mean, you know that…

By Kevin Hardy, Stateline.orgThe minimum wage will increase in nearly half the states this year even as the federal wage floor remains stuck at $7.25 per hour.In many states, the minimum wage is automatically adjusted upward as inflation rises. But voters in several states, including deeply red ones such as Alaska and Missouri, chose in November to significantly increase their minimum wages this year.Michigan will see its minimum wage jump from $10.33 to $12.48 on Feb. 21 after the state Supreme Court concluded the legislature subverted residents when it adopted but then significantly amended voter-initiated ballot measures in 2018 to…

By JOSH BOAKWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden in his Wednesday farewell speech to the nation warned that American democracy was sliding into an “oligarchy” of tech billionaires. But what exactly is an oligarchy?What is an oligarchy?In short, an oligarchy is an elite few who control the government’s actions.By using the pointedly negative term “oligarchy,” Biden equated this moment — when the world’s wealthiest men are feting President-elect Donald Trump — with some of history’s more brutal regimes.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to cohost a Trump inaugural reception with wealthy Republican donors next week. Amazon Prime Video, which was…

By COLLIN BINKLEYWASHINGTON (AP) — Many colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism on their campuses have been settling with federal civil rights investigators in the weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who urged a tougher response to campus protests against the war in Gaza.By settling with the Education Department, the schools close the cases against them as long as they meet the terms of the agreements, which mostly have required training, policy updates and reviews of past complaints.But many colleges at the center of the highest-profile cases — including Columbia and Cornell — face investigations that remain unresolved and…

If your home is damaged or destroyed by the Los Angeles wildfires, or from any disaster for that matter, call your mortgage loan servicer.Homeowners may be eligible for mortgage relief in the form of a monthly payment forbearance.Note that your loan may be owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac even though you make your mortgage payment to ABC mortgage company. If either government institution owns the mortgage, you have up to 12 months of payment forbearance without incurring late fees or penalties.Also see: Newsom clears the way for ADU, temporary mobile homes for LA wildfire victimsFreddie Mac also covers homeowners…