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Letters: Trump strategy | Keep safeguard | Deal harshly | Valuing democracy

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:00 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Is Trump strategy‘Too corrupt to convict’?Remember when Lehman Bros. collapsed in 2008? Who could forget? That sparked federal bailouts to banks and insurance companies that were deemed “Too Big To Fail.”It looks like Donald Trump is making a similar page in history, by earning 91 criminal charges in four indictments. Legal pundits are wondering how so many trials can even be scheduled. And, how would an ex-president serve prison time if convicted?Trump’s strategy is becoming “Too Corrupt To Be Convicted.”Bruce JoffePiedmontBill would removesafeguard for abusedAssemblymembers Tina McKinnor and Buffy Wicks and state Sen. Scott Wiener have written AB 1028, a bill that is halfway through California’s legislative process and removes mandatory reporting among health care professionals if they find signs of abuse on a patient.This bill, like other articles and movement...

Letters: Psychiatric beds | Rethink housing | Gun control | Western history | Trump acolytes

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:00 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.County needs more, notfewer, psychiatric bedsRe: “County must secure needed inpatient psychiatric beds” (Page A6, Aug. 11).Please do not remove any mental health beds. The need is so great.Less mental health support is only making our communities less safe and families’ quality of life diminish. Our loved ones’ mental health deserves as much support as any other illness.My heart breaks for all who are unable to get the necessary support.Linda LissnerSan JoseWe must rethinkhousing across agesRe: “Texas? Florida? Nope. Bay Area refugees are fleeing to Seattle” (Page A1, Aug. 13).The Bay Area and California housing crisis is an American issue. We must reconfigure housing across the ages and stages of life.Last year I helped relocate my parents who are in their mid-80s to Stoneridge Creek, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Pleasanton. They were “aging in pla...

Bears are climbing Half Dome in Yosemite National Park

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:00 GMT

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Park Rangers recently discovered evidence of a black bear's presence on the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite.On Tuesday, Yosemite National Park announced that black bears have been present on the famous summit. They warn bears can easily tackle the 46-degree angle "no cables needed" - and warn hikers to be cautious since black bears are excellent climbers. This endangered species was sought in Tulare County Rangers advise hikers in Yosemite National Park to keep all smelly objects, from food to sunscreen, locked in a bear locker or bear canister. If someone needs to keep food in the car, rangers say to keep it out of sight, with the car windows rolled up and the doors locked.Whether at camp or on the trail, they advise always to keep backpacks and scented items within arm's reach since bears and other animals like the Half Dome ground squirrels will approach unattended bags quickly and will try to take their contents. "For the safety of ...

Providing $100 per day to SF jurors increased economic, racial diversity: report

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:00 GMT

(BCN) -- A San Francisco program that increases pay from $15 to $100 per day to jurors with low to moderate incomes has proven to increase the economic and racial diversity of jury pools in the city, a new report found. The Be The Jury pilot program, launched by the San Francisco Financial Justice Project in the city's Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector, began in March 2022 with the goal of expanding access to civic duty by removing financial barriers. 4-year-old girl killed, parents injured in crash near Oracle Park, driver arrested A majority of participants in the program -- 84% -- reported that they would not have been able to serve on their respective juries without the $100 per day stipend, according to the report released at the one-year mark of the program. Participants had a median household income of $38,000, which is well below San Francisco's median of $121,826, indicating that the program successfully removed financial hurdles to serve. While jury duty i...

Transgender care ban for minors takes effect in North Carolina after lawmakers override governor’s veto

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:00 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Transgender care ban for minors takes effect in North Carolina after lawmakers override governor’s veto.Source

Walker homers twice, hitting 2-run shot in 8th in Diamondbacks’ 9-7 victory over Rockies

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:00 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Christian Walker hit a pair of two-run homers, the second in the eighth inning lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks past the Colorado Rockies in a 9-7 victory Wednesday.The Diamondbacks moved back over .500 at 61-60, winning two straight to capture their second straight series after a stretch in which they lost 10 of 12 games to fall 3 1/2 games out of an NL wild-card berth. They have 31 come-from-behind victories.Tommy Pham singled off Tyler Kinley (0-1) to open the eighth inning and Walker followed with a 425-foot homer to right-center for an 8-7 lead. Walker, who has 28 homers, also homered in the first two games of the series. He has 22 career homers against Colorado, 13 at Coors Field.Walker had three hits and four RBIs, Nick Ahmed had a three-run triple and Corbin Carroll had two hits and his 37th stolen base after replacing Lourdes Gurriel in the fifth inning. Gurriel left because of a strained left hip.Kyle Nelson (7-3) pitched the seventh for the victory. He was t...

4 clerks facing fines after ‘underage vaping operation’ at more than two dozen stores in Virginia

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:00 GMT

Four store clerks in Leesburg, Virginia, are facing fines after police say they were caught selling tobacco vaping products to underage costumers.The Leesburg Police Department conducted an underage vaping operation at 29 tobacco retail establishments and charged clerks at four of those businesses, according to a news release.The clerks worked at the Sheetz on California Drive; Jock’s Exxon on West Market; Tobacco King and Vape on East Market Street; and Leesburg Tobacco & Vape on East Market Street.The clerks, who range in age from 18 to 57 years old, were each issued a summons charging them with violating the Virginia Code, which was amended in July 2019 to outlaw the sale of “tobacco products, nicotine vapor products, and alternative nicotine products” to anyone under 21 years of age.The violations are punishable with a fine.“Operations like these send a clear message to retail establishments in town, that they are responsible for training their staff ...

Falcons guard Matt Hennessy out for season with apparent knee injury

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:00 GMT

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Guard Matt Hennessy is done for the season after the Atlanta Falcons placed him on injured reserve Wednesday with an apparent knee issue.Hennessy, who has played 41 games with 22 starts over the past three seasons with the Falcons, was expected to battle for the No. 1 spot at left guard during the preseason.His injury would seemingly hand the starting job to rookie Matthew Bergeron, a second-round pick from Syracuse.Hennessy went down July 28 — the third day of training camp — while blocking on a running play. He walked off the field with a trainer but hasn’t practiced since.Coach Arthur Smith has declined to specify the nature of the injury, other than to say it was related to something Hennessy dealt with a year ago. The lineman went on the injured list last November with a left kneecap ailment.Hennessy also served as Atlanta’s backup center, a position he had started at before losing the job to Drew Dalman a season ago. That prompted a move ...

Kentucky gubernatorial rivals Andy Beshear and Daniel Cameron offer competing education plans

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:00 GMT

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear proposed awarding the largest pay raise in decades to Kentucky’s public school personnel, upping the ante Wednesday in his competition with Republican challenger Daniel Cameron, who offered his own plan to boost salaries and overcome pandemic learning setbacks.The rivals in the November election outlined ideas for boosting K-12 education on back-to-back days, staking out positions on an overarching issue. Their gubernatorial showdown is one of the nation’s most closely watched this year as the Democratic incumbent tries to win reelection in the red state.Beshear garnered strong support from teachers in winning the governorship in 2019, naming an educator as his running mate and vowing to make education his top priority. Cameron is trying to make inroads, having apologized for an ex-GOP governor’s feud with educators and unveiling a plan to boost starting teacher pay and develop tutoring programs for students who fe...

Highway robbery: Watch out for auto maintenance cost and repairs

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:36:00 GMT

A mechanic is seen working on a car in this stock photo.(Getty Images/iStockphoto/Kunakorn Rassadornyindee) A mechanic is seen working on a car in this stock photo.(Getty Images/iStockphoto/Kunakorn Rassadornyindee) If your summer travels take you on the highway, pay attention to vehicle and maintenance repairs because it could cost you a pretty penny.“I think a lot of shops know that many drivers don’t know what their car needs during these maintenance sessions,” said Kevin Brasler, executive editor of Consumers’ Checkbook.Brasler said they used undercover shoppers who evaluated 229 auto repair shops, including dealerships in the D.C. area.They discovered that many shops charged astonishin...