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Traffic crashes on Highway 17 rose a staggering 34 percent last year to the highest level in at least 13 years, prompting the CHP to step up patrols on the scenic but treacherous road that serves as the primary link for thousands of commuters between Santa Cruz and the South Bay. The 983 collisions in 2016 came during a winter of heavy rains and reduced enforcement, producing the highest tally since an intensive safety campaign kicked off in 2003 and the California Highway Patrol started tracking annual crashes, injuries and fatalities. And they were far higher than the 664 tallied...

An Iraqi military officer says Islamic State militants have launched a gas attack in a newly-liberated area in western Mosul.

FULL TITLE: Angry United Airlines pilots' union issue statement denying ALL responsibility for forcible removal of doctor last week and say Chicago cops are to blame The United Airline's pilots union released a statement on Thursday regarding Dr. David Dao's violent removal from Flight 3411 originating out of Chicago on Sunday. The union contended that the Chicago Department of Aviation's 'grossly inappropriate response' was to blame for the events that transpired, according to the United Master Executive Council's statement. The United Master Executive Council represents the airline's 12,500 pilots. The statement also pointed out that the plane from which Dr....

Want to help United Airlines avoid another #leggingsgate or #bumpgate? Now’s your chance! The carrier is hiring a Public Relations Manager. You can read the full job description here, but I do find the opening paragraphs of the job description to be not the least bit amusing– Along with transforming the way United does business, we are reimagining our airline’s award-winning Global Communications Team from nose to tail. Led by former Starbucks Corporate Communications executive, Jim Olson, United is building a state-of-the-art communications function that puts strategic storytelling and digital engagement at the center of our employee advocacy, media and...

FULL TITLE: ‘Please listen to the following safety announcement’: Jiu-jitsu masters’ hilarious tutorial for United Airlines passengers who fear being dragged off the plane Two Jiu-jitsu masters have taken aim at the United Airlines fiasco with a tongue-in-cheek tutorial to help prevent passengers from being dragged off their flight. The airline caused a social media storm on Sunday after Vietnamese grandfather Dr David Dao was violently dragged off Flight 3411 by security due to overbooking. A comical clip shows Californian brothers Ryrion and Rener Gracie demonstrating six 'very effective drag defence methods' to help passengers get free if they are...

FULL TITLE: Trump says the United Airlines incident was 'horrible' and urges airlines to lift limits on the vouchers they give to passengers re-allocated due to overbooking President Donald Trump has called the United Airlines incident 'horrible' and called on airlines to increase the amount they offer passengers to give up their seats on overbooked flights. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump said: 'You know, there's a point at which I'm getting off the plane, seriously. They should have gone up higher. But to just randomly say "You're getting off the plane", that was terrible.' Dr David Dao is...

Paradise Helicopters Pilot Pete Stachowitz couldn’t get the crew and Tropical Visions Video photographer and videographer Mick Kalber close to the lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at Kīlauea’s summit during an early morning overflight on Thursday morning, April 6, due to low-lying clouds. Kīlauea continues to erupt from its east rift zone, and although low cloud cover prevented us from flying over Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater, we observed the March 5 breakout creeping along toward Pulama Pali,” Kalber reported. The 61g flow, fed from six miles of lava tubes from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent, continues to pour lava into the ocean,...

United Airlines says it will compensate the cost of tickets for every passenger on Flight 3411, where a man was forcibly removed and dragged earlier this week, according to CNBC. The news follows a second statement from United CEO Oscar Munoz, in which he said that "no one should ever be mistreated this way" — a pivot from his Monday statement. In the latter, Munoz said the passenger was "disruptive and belligerent." United has been in hot water since the video first emerged on Sunday, with outraged social media users calling for a boycott and leaving the airline 1-star ratings...

Pippa Middleton has banned Meghan Markle from her wedding to avoid being upstaged, reports say. Well, it takes a thief to catch a thief. Tom Sykes Tom Sykes 04.07.17 3:36 AM ET She knows all about the risks of being upstaged at one’s own wedding. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Pippa Middleton, who comprehensively stole the show at her sister Kate’s wedding in a figure-hugging McQueen bridesmaid’s dress, has reportedly banned Prince Harry’s girlfriend Meghan Markle from attending her own wedding next month. The Sun reports that Pippa, 33, has officially instituted a “No ring, no bring” policy for...

A driver who used wooden logs and chicken wire to reinforce his vehicle’s suspension was ticketed and had his car impounded by police following a traffic stop in west Quebec. The MRC des Collines police said they pulled the 1999 Toyota Tercel over on Sunday at about 10:45 p.m. on route du Carrefour in Val-des-Monts after noticing the car didn’t have working brake lights. After pulling the car over, they discovered that the 28-year-old driver had no proof of insurance and an open beer in the front seat, police said. A closer inspection of the car also revealed that three...

The popular travel discount company Travelocity is calling for an investigation after its Gnome spokesperson was severely mistreated today by a private security detail associated with United Airlines. The incident began when the "Roaming Gnome" was scheduled to film a new commercial in New York City. He was seated in the plane when a United employee announced that, due to overbooking, four passengers had to be bumped from the flight. United offered seats on a next-day flight, along with an extra bag of peanuts. When no one took the offer, they upped the offer to a seat with extra leg...

A Bay Area couple returned from Hawaii with more than a tan. Newlyweds Ben Manilla, a journalism professor at UC Berkeley, and Eliza Lape contracted a brain-infecting parasite called rat lungworm disease, according to Hawaii News Now. Manilla, 64, and Lape, 57, traveled to Maui for their wedding in January. After the ceremony, they spent a fortnight in the area of Hana, Hawaii News Now reported. Lape began presenting symptoms even before the duo’s return to San Francisco. "My symptoms started growing to feeling like somebody was taking a hot knife and just stabbing me in different parts of my...

New information has been released about the doctor who was forcibly removed from the United Airlines flight 3411. According to information retrieved from TMZ, Dr. David Dao had his license suspended in February of 2005 after he was found to have been illegally prescribing and trafficking drugs in exchange for sexual favors. Several medical board documents indicate that Dao denied paying for sex, but did accepted sexual favors from an associate in exchange for reducing a debt the associate owed him. Dr. was charged with 98 felony drug counts for illegally prescribing and trafficking hydocodone, Oxycontin and Percocet but was...

Poverty, sickness and pure survival - just a few reasons why genuinely needy people beg on the streets for money. But as these images show, the poor in southeast Asia are increasingly being joined by wealthy Western backpackers who are begging simply to fund their trips. The trend has caused outrage among locals, who say the tourists are taking money from the truly needy in order to finance lifestyle choices many consider a luxury.

Until this morning, I didn’t think anyone would displace the executive team at Pepsi as public relations chumps of the year after their hideous debacle of a commercial featuring Kendall Jenner. Then along came the geniuses at United Airlines, whose company motto, hilariously, is: “Fly the Friendly Skies”.

Oman Air’s flight to London was delayed for 1 hour and 18 minutes after a passenger was bitten by a “centipede” which was hidden in the pocket of his jacket. “Oman Air regrets to inform that a guest during boarding of flight number WY 101 from Muscat to London Heathrow was bitten by a “centipede” which was hidden in the pocket of his jacket. Immediately after the incident, Oman Air team requested medical attention and the affected guest was taken for treatment accompanied by his family. "Oman Air apologizes for the inconvenience caused to its valued guests, confirming giving its...

<p>Video shows three security officials dragging a passenger from a United Airlines flight at a Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.</p> <p>A United representative confirmed to NBC Chicago Sunday night that a person was removed from Flight 3411 to Louisville, Kentucky, saying it was "overbooked."</p>

Where to Retire.

Summer came early for the lesbian community, who flooded Southern California to soak up some rays at an annual five-day festival in Palm Springs that is entirely dedicated to lesbian women, and cultural appreciation.  The Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend has become known as one of the wildest weekends in the lesbian community, and this past weekend's debauched event - the 27th in the festival's history - looks to have been no different.

(Angry Patriot) – The U.S. special forces are the most feared military unit in the world for a reason, and we couldn’t be more proud of them. A soldier from the Peruvian Special Forces challenged a United States Green Beret to a fight when he was visiting Peru. The Peruvian never stood a chance. “He did it with just one finger? … With just one hand he put his a** out!” cried out onlookers in wonder. The Green Beret did not hesitate, and the fight was over in an instant. U.S. Special Forces, including the Green Berets, do not rely...