Home

Letters: Punishing charities | Chatbots hurt | Housing homeless | Shorter move | Health coverage | Women’s gyms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:51:54 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Punishing charities noway to protest rate hikeRe: “Higher PG&E rates will cut donations” (Page A6, April 28).The letter published Friday from Robert Droege was possibly the most absurd and ridiculous letter ever.If, as Droege suggests, he is in the highest income level and gives substantial donations to charities, the increase in monthly PG&E fixed fee will have an insignificant impact on his way of life. What is he complaining about?Additionally, he and his friends plan to punish local charities, who have nothing to do with PG&E, by withholding equivalent funds. While I applaud his apparent generosity, is this plan really going to help solve our problems? No, the poor and disadvantaged in our community will just be worse off.This appears symptomatic of the many things that afflict our society today: how sad.Chris WorrallSan JoseChatbots will hurtPalo Alto studentsThe superintende...

Livermore police seize handgun with large capacity drum magazine, arrest 2 for robbery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:51:54 GMT

(KRON) -- Livermore police arrested two men for armed robbery and seized a handgun with a large capacity drum magazine on Sunday night, according to the Livermore Police Department on Twitter. Officers with Livermore PD responded around 11:45 p.m. Sunday to a report of a person who had been robbed at gunpoint near an apartment complex on East Avenue. 7 bodies found in search for two missing Oklahoma teens: authorities Responding to the location, officers saw the suspect's vehicle driving off at a high rate of speed and turning into a side street. The suspects saw the police and abandoned the car, taking off on foot, according to Livermore PD.A perimeter was established by officers who then conducted an extensive search. With the assistance of a K9 officer, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Drone Unit, and the CHP, Livermore PD officers arrested Juan Gomez, 23, of Hollister, and Ansel Peoza, 18, of Livermore.Police charged them with robbery and possession of a firearm, among othe...

Suspected Milpitas arsonist arrested

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:51:54 GMT

(KRON) -- The Milpitas Police Department arrested a registered arsonist on suspicion of igniting a fire in front of a bank. Detectives arrested Luis Atangan, 41, of San Jose, on Monday morning and booked him into the Santa Clara County Mail Jail for attempted arson, as well as possession of an incendiary device. MPD thanked witnesses who came forward to help police identify a suspect.The fire was lit at 2:42 p.m. on April 28 near the front doors of a bank on East Calaveras Boulevard. "Fortunately, the device was extinguished before anyone was injured or property was damaged," MPD Captain Steve Parodi wrote.

Man shot, pistol-whipped in San Rafael robbery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:51:54 GMT

(KRON) -- A man was pistol-whipped and shot in a San Rafael robbery on Sunday, the city's police department said. The robbery occurred near Hoag Street and Mill Street in the Canal neighborhood.The San Rafael Police Department responded to the incident just after 9:45 p.m. Callers reported gunshots and the sound of someone yelling for help.An SRPD investigation revealed that the victim was walking down the street when three male suspects approached him. Police said one of the suspects brandished a gun, threatened the victim and demanded his wallet. Livermore police seize handgun with large capacity drum magazine, arrest 2 for robbery The victim did not have a wallet, according to police, and the suspect became upset with him. The three suspects allegedly assaulted the victim -- hitting, kicking, and pistol-whipping him in the face, per SRPD.The victim eventually tried running away, and police said one suspect began to shoot at him. One of the shots hit him in the foot. Police sai...

Oakland mayor proposes hiring freeze, delaying programs to balance budget

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:51:54 GMT

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is proposing to delay implementing some city programs and freeze hiring to help balance the city's next budget, her office said Monday. The two-year deficit is $360 million, the largest in the city's history, in a budget of $4.3 billion. Missing Petaluma girl located, safely returned home Thao is also proposing to consolidate some city departments to increase efficiency and save additional money. Following a ransomware attack against the city, Thao wants to spend $10 million on upgrading and hardening the city's cyber security technology. She also is proposing over $200 million over the next two years for affordable housing. Thao did not say how many vacant jobs would be frozen or what programs would be delayed. The budget must be approved by June 30. Thao will present her budget to the Oakland City Council at 4 p.m. May 3. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Canadian government proposes ban on assault-style firearms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:51:54 GMT

OTTAWA, Canada (AP) — The Canadian government is proposing a ban on assault-style firearms that would apply once legislation now before Parliament comes into force. Under the scheme announced Monday, the government would make regulations through the Firearms Act to ensure that guns are classified correctly before entering the Canadian market.“I want to make it clear that our government is not targeting hunters and law-abiding gun owners,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told a news conference. “What we’re doing is protecting families, protecting our children, protection our communities.”The government also plans to recreate a firearms advisory committee that will make recommendations on the classification of guns now on the market.Mendicino said the committee will include rural and northern residents, Indigenous people, industry leaders, law enforcement and gun control advocates.“Guided by the committee’s recommendation we will increase the classifications of firearms for ban...

3 killed in Southern California small plane crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:51:54 GMT

BIG BEAR CITY, Calif. (AP) — A single-engine plane crashed near a California mountain airport on Monday, killing all three people aboard, authorities said.The Beechcraft A36 went down about 2 p.m. near Big Bear City Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane struck a vacant lot, and there was no fire, fire officials said.The victims weren’t immediately identified. The cause of the crash was under investigation. Weather reports said it was partly cloudy at the time of the crash. Big Bear Airport is in the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear Lake, a popular resort area about a two-hour’s drive east of Los Angeles.It was the second deadly small plane crash in three days in Southern California. On Saturday, one person was killed when a single-engine plane slammed into a grassy hillside above homes in a Los Angeles neighborhood amid dense fog, authorities said. The Cessna C172 crashed around 8:45 p.m. Saturday on the city’s west side, about ...

Lakers’ James, Warriors’ Curry to meet again in playoffs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:51:54 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — It’s LeBron vs. Steph on the big stage, Take V.With a slightly different look in the playoffs these days for two of the game’s greatest players.“Just two of the most competitive players that have ever played this game,” James said Monday. “We want to etch our name in the history books as much as we can, and we’re playing our own way. I’ve got nothing but the greatest admiration and respect for Steph.”Curry and Draymond Green reflect back on Golden State’s many memorable NBA Finals battles with James and marvel how they’re all still playing such high-level basketball so many years later.Yet this Western Conference semifinal matchup starting Tuesday is new for everybody: Curry, Green, Klay Thompson and these Warriors have never faced LeBron’s Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs — even if they’re plenty familiar with James himself.“It is special to know the first series we played him in Cleveland in the ’14-15 to now, we’re blesse...

Gwyneth Paltrow won’t recoup attorney fees in ski crash suit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:51:54 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Gwyneth Paltrow will not recoup the attorneys’ fees she paid to successfully defend herself against a lawsuit from a 76-year-old retired optometrist who claimed she was at fault for crashing into him at a posh Utah ski resort in 2016.In a ruling published on Saturday, a Utah judge said attorneys for Paltrow and Terry Sanderson had agreed to drop the matter of Paltrow’s attorneys’ fees. District Court Judge Kent Holmberg’s final judgment did not detail why the matter of attorneys’ fees that Paltrow sought in her 2019 countersuit was dropped.The judgment affirmed the jury’s unanimous verdict finding Terry Sanderson — the man who collided with Paltrow — to be “100% at fault,” awarding Paltrow the $1 she sought in a countersuit. It also said Sanderson would not appeal the verdict, effectively ending a protracted legal battle seven years after the two crashed on a beginner run near the base of Deer Valley Resort in Utah.Repr...

California sues Elk Grove over housing project for homeless

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:51:54 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When developers in the California city of Elk Grove pitched two new housing projects last year, the proposals appeared to have much in common: Both would build new housing in a quaint section of the city affectionately known as “Old Town” for its attractive stretch of historic buildings.One project was for people who could afford to purchase homes at the market rate in a state with some of the most expensive home prices in the nation. The other project was for people who were homeless. City officials approved the market rate project. But the homeless project has stalled as officials in the growing suburb of Sacramento argued it was not eligible to be fast-tracked under a 2017 state housing law.Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration jointly sued the Elk Grove, arguing city officials broke the law by denying the project and accusing them of discriminating against low income families. The lawsuit escala...