Republicans’ trust in accuracy of U.S. elections jumps

WASHINGTON>> A majority of Republicans say they are confident in the 2024 vote count after Donald Trump’s win, according to a new poll that finds a sharp turnaround from GOP voters’ skepticism about U.S. elections after the president-elect spent four years lying about his loss to President Joe Biden.

About six in 10 Republicans said they have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence that the votes in last year’s presidential election were counted correctly nationwide, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s a sharp rise from about two in 10 Republicans who were confident in an AP-NORC poll in October.

And about two-thirds of Republicans in the new survey said they were confident in their state’s vote count, up from about four in 10 before the election.

Authorities suspect gang members killed seven workers

RIVERSIDE, Calif.>> More than four years after the shooting deaths of seven Laotian workers at an illegal marijuana farm in Southern California, authorities revealed Friday that they believe the killings were carried out by gang members and pleaded with people to come forward with any information.

Investigators believe the suspects were gang members of Laotian descent from the San Diego area. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said the agency faces a “major obstacle” obtaining information because at least some witnesses and victims entered the U.S. illegally and may have been victims of human trafficking.

Migrants who were working at the farm may fear retribution and distrust law enforcement, Bianco said. Many are from countries where law enforcement is “corrupt and further victimize the victims,” he added.

Investigators have identified a midsize, dark-colored SUV that was believed to be used during the killings in the remote community of Aguanga, the sheriff’s department said in a news release.

Man apologizes for connection to Wisconsin shooting

SAN DIEGO>> A California man apologized Friday for his connection to a 15-year-old girl who fatally shot a teacher and fellow student at a religious school in Wisconsin, telling a judge that he was prepared to accept the consequences of his actions without explaining his precise role.

Alexander Paffendorf expressed regret for his involvement when a judge offered a chance for final words before keeping an order to confiscate his guns and ammunition in place until April 4. He didn’t elaborate in his brief statement but authorities have said he told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives.

A day after the Dec. 16 attack, a California judge issued a restraining order against Paffendorf, 20 at the time, under the state’s gun red flag law. It required him to turn his guns and ammunition into police. He has not been charged with any crime.

Paffendorf, appearing by video, said Friday that he was ready for a hearing on whether the restraining order should stay in effect, but San Diego Superior Court Judge Devon Lomayesva delayed consideration after an attorney for the city of Carlsbad, north of San Diego, said Pattendorf was under criminal investigation.

The judge decided it was in Pattendorf’s interest to delay the hearing because he is under investigation and did not have an attorney.

Missing surfer believed dead in shark attack

A surfer missing in Australia is believed to have died in a shark attack, authorities said Friday, as they searched the waters where the man disappeared.

The 28-year-old was in the sea at a popular surf beach in South Australia where another man was killed by a white shark in 2023.

A witness who saw the shark attack on Thursday evening at Granites Beach, near the coastal town of Streaky Bay, rode into the sea on a jet ski and retrieved the man’s surfboard, Senior Constable Rebecca Stokes told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Couple sentenced after their dogs killed a father of six

DETROIT>> A Detroit couple was sentencd Friday after pleading no contest that their three dogs escaped and fatally mauled a 35-year-old father who was walking home from a bus stop.

A judge ordered Roy Goodman to serve 21/2 to 15 years in prison, according to the Wayne County prosecutor’s office.

His wife, Trevina, was given three years of probation. Each pleaded no contest to possessing a dangerous animal causing death.

Harold Phillips was attacked Jan. 29 after the dogs got out of an unsecured front gate of a home on Detroit’s west side.

The dogs were euthanized after the attack.

Phillips died from his wounds at a hospital, leaving behind six children.

Two killed, 19 injured in fiery plane crash

At least two people were killed and 19 others were injured in a fiery explosion Thursday after a small plane crashed into a furniture manufacturing facility in Southern California, shortly after taking off from a nearby airport.

The four-seat aircraft struck the sprawling building on Raymer Avenue near the Fullerton Municipal Airport in Orange County just after 2 p.m., about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles, authorities said.

Benjamin Torrez, who helps load furniture onto trucks, was nearing the end of his shift when he and his co-workers heard a loud collision followed by screams. Torrez, 57, ran outside to see a horrific scene: a downed plane engulfed in flames as some of his colleagues frantically used extinguishers on three or four workers who had caught fire.

Officials estimated that as many as 300 people were evacuated from the building. Nineteen people were treated for injuries, including some who were taken to a hospital, said Mike Meacham, a deputy chief with the Fullerton Fire Department.

The identities of two people who were killed have not been released, and it was not clear if they had been aboard the plane, officials said.

— Denver Post wire services