You can now buy a flame-throwing robot dog for under $10,000 | Ars Technica

Thermonator, the first "flamethrower-wielding robot dog," is completely legal in 48 US states.

ByteDance: How TikTok’s Chinese parent company will rely on an American right to keep the app alive | CNN Business

TikTok’s expected legal challenge to a law signed Wednesday by President Joe Biden forcing the popular app’s parent company to spin off its US operations could be a seminal moment in First Amendment law in what is shaping up to be a year of defining cases.

This Bill Would Give the Treasury Nearly Unlimited Power To Destroy Nonprofits

It supposedly bans financing terrorism, but that's already illegal. It's really a power grab for the secretary of the treasury.

Kern County supervisor Zack Scrivner stabbed, under investigation for alleged sexual assault

A Kern County supervisor was allegedly stabbed by his child and is now under investigation over allegations of sexual assault involving a separate child, Sheriff Donny Youngblood told reporters Thursday.

Google worker says the company is 'silencing our voices' after dozens are fired | NPR & Houston Public Media

The tech giant fired 28 employees who took part in a protest over the company's Project Nimbus contract with the Israeli government. One fired worker tells her story.

San Francisco crime down as mayor election nears

Crimes like car break-ins are down in San Francisco, potentially changing the dynamics of November's mayoral race.

Study: Average Americans More Likely to be Shut Out of Government Records Process - Brechner Center for Freedom of Information

Journalists, average Americans, and others seeking government records in the public interest are more likely to be denied information than for-profit requesters, according to a new study.

Revealed: how companies made $100m clearing California homeless camps | California | The Guardian

Public spending on private sweep contractors is soaring across the state – and unhoused people allege poor treatment

Hundreds of Small Presses Just Lost Their Distributor. Now What? - The New York Times

A nonprofit that distributed books for many of the country’s small presses has closed, and the fallout could affect the publishing industry in ways both big and small.

AT&T: Data breach affects 73 million or 51 million customers. No, we won’t explain. | Ars Technica

When the data was published in 2021, the company said it didn't belong to its customers.

Waymo chaos on San Francisco freeway: Road closure blamed

Six Waymo robotaxis got stuck on a Highway 101 on-ramp after driving down a closed road, a company spokesperson said.

New York Times to Journalists: What You Can’t Say on Gaza War

An internal style memo from New York Times editors tells reporters not to use words like “genocide” or “Palestine” when covering Israel’s war on Gaza.

Video shows California police fatally shooting teenager who was reported kidnapped | California | The Guardian

Revealed: Savannah Graziano, 15, shot by sheriff’s deputies in 2022 while unarmed and following instructions to move toward them

Scandal-plagued FCI Dublin women's prison to close after years of concerns of sexual abuse, retaliation

Federal officials plan to close the troubled FCI Dublin women's prison, the agency announced Monday, signaling the end to a facility that had been plagued for years by accusations of sexual abuse and retaliation toward prisoners by guards and prison staff.

Google removes links to California news sites, citing proposed state law requiring payment to publishers | CNN Business

Google on Friday began removing links to California news websites in reaction to proposed state legislation requiring big tech companies to pay news outlets for their content.

Boston Police Records Show Nearly 70 Percent of ShotSpotter Alerts Led to Dead Ends — The Data for Justice Project | ACLU of Massachusetts

New Bill Pushes California to Confront Digital Discrimination | KQED

Over decades, the California Legislature has struggled to combat digital discrimination. AB 2239, introduced by Assemblymember Mia Bonta of Oakland, aims to compel state regulators to address Internet connectivity as a matter of social justice.

LA County Approves $25 Million Settlement With Family Of Man With Autism Who Was Shot, Paralyzed By Sheriff’s Deputy | LAist

Isaias Cervantes was 25 and experiencing a mental health crisis in March 2021 when the shooting occurred at his home in the east L.A. County city of Cudahy.

‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza

The Israeli army has marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using an AI targeting system with little human oversight and a permissive policy for casualties, +972 and Local Call reveal.

The feds want $2B from SF law-enforcement donor Chris Larsen.

Chris Larsen, SF's top law-enforcement donor, founded a business deemed by federal law enforcement to have broken securities law for years

Journalist removed from Colorado Republican event for ‘unfair’ reporting | Colorado | The Guardian

Sandra Fish, who has covered politics since 1982, was asked to leave by security about an hour into the state party assembly

Colorado becomes second state to ban excited delirium - CBS Colorado

Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill on Thursday that keeps law enforcement, first responders and coroners from using the term "excited delirium."

Arrests Expose Rift Between N.Y.P.D. and ‘Violence Interrupters’ - The New York Times

An outreach worker trained to intervene in street conflicts was hospitalized after he and a colleague were arrested amid an altercation with the police.

The Slow Death of a Prison Profiteer: How Activism Brought Securus to the Brink - The Appeal

On the hook to repay $1.3 billion of debt this year, the nation's largest prison telecom company, Securus, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Its failure would represent a remarkable victory for advocates—and a potential beginning of the end for the industry as we know it.

San Anselmo man tased by police during medical seizure, alleges cover-up

A San Anselmo man on Wednesday sued police after they stunned him with a Taser and arrested him while he was having a grand mal seizure in his bedroom – all captured on body camera video obtained by KTVU. 

Best Buy offers to screen LGBTQ nonprofit donations after conservative pressure, filing shows

Best Buy offered to screen donations from its employee resource groups going to LGBTQ causes after pressure from a conservative think tank, SEC filing shows.