Desert Star Weekly Jan. 5, 2021 issue!

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Your adjudicated newspaper for Riverside County

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STAR W E E K L Y

PRESORTED STANDARD

Research shows the average adult student who has received a Prior Learning Assessment will take 17.6 more credits at their school. (Adobe Stock) see page 11

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January 6, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 2

Julian Assange Freed

Assange WON’T be extradited to the US on spying charges in shock decision at London’s Old Bailey. Jubilant scenes have greeted Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the US to face espionage charges at London’s Old Bailey courthouse. Assange, 49, is charged with 18 counts of conspiring

to hack US government computers and the publication of confidential military records, including a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad. A dozen people, including two Reuters journalists, were killed. In her ruling, Baraitser said that freedom of speech

rights do not provide “unfettered discretion by Mr. Assange to decide what he’s going to publish.” However, in a decision that shocked many, including Assange’s own supporters and legal team, Baraitser found that extradition would be oppressive given Assange’s mental health.

Shred It And “Forget It

By Pamela Price The City of Cathedral City’s community’s first one-hour shredding event of 2021 took place on January 2January 2, opening promptly at 8AM with two professional shredding trucks, parked side by side, ready to shred documents from accounting files and any payroll records to canceled checks and credit card documents. The event, staged in front of Cathedral City’s City Hall, was thanks to a community service created by Cathedral City. This hour-long shredding is the first of five this year, with the next shredding events scheduled for February

6February 6, March 6March 6, April 3April 3 and May 1May 1. These shredding opportunities are free for Cathedral City residents exclusively. These Cathedral City supported events “help stop identity theft,” according to Deanna Pressgrove, Cathedral City’s Environmental Conservation Manager. Five banker-sized boxes or plastic bags per resident or household are eligible for shredding. The signage on each of the two trucks display their motto “We Protect What Matters” —and your

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Image: Allen Lechtman

Handing down her judgment, Baraitser said the impact of Assange’s extradition to the US on his family, partner Stella Morris and their two sons Gabriel and Max would be “sadly nothing out of the ordinary.” Throughout his trial, Assange’s defense team

claimed the decision to extradite and prosecute their client was politically motivated, “during a unique period of US history under the Trump administration.” Baraitser found insufficient evidence that the charges Continues on Page 5


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