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Letters: Russia’s direction | Workers for disabled

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:21 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Trump would drive U.S.in Russia’s directionDonald Trump greatly admires Vladimir Putin, but how many of us would like to live in Russia?Given its vast natural resources, educated population and good infrastructure, Russia should be an economic powerhouse. Nonetheless, Russia ranks 52nd among the countries in the world in average per capita incomes, 100th in life expectancy, and 79th in self-reported life satisfaction. Even before the Ukrainian War, Russia had an emigration problem because many people wanted to leave Russia.What Trump likes is that most of Russia’s wealth is in the hands of a small group of oligarchs while the rest of the population suffers. I prefer to live in a country that promotes the middle class, and I oppose Trump’s efforts to Russify the United States.Samuel KnappSunnyvaleWorkers for disabledalso deserve a raiseRe: “Gov. Newsom signs fast-food minimum wage bill” ...

Rep. Santos faces new allegations of fraud, theft

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:21 GMT

By Jake Offenhartz | Associated PressNEW YORK — A new indictment filed Tuesday charged U.S. Rep. George Santos with stealing the identities of donors to his campaign and then using their credit cards to ring up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges.Prosecutors said some of that stolen money ended up in his own bank account.The 23-count indictment replaces one filed earlier against the New York Republican charging him with embezzling money from his campaign and lying to Congress about his wealth, among other offenses.The new charges include allegations that he charged more than $44,000 to his campaign over a period of months using cards belonging to contributors without their knowledge. In one case, he charged $12,000 to a contributor’s credit card and transferred the “vast majority” of that money into his personal bank account, prosecutors said.Santos is also accused of falsely reporting to the Federal Elections Commission that he had loaned $500,000...

Coyote Valley, Martins Beach, Devil’s Slide: Prominent Bay Area environmental group names new leader

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:21 GMT

A leading Bay Area environmental group that has worked to limit Silicon Valley sprawl and preserve open space for more than 60 years in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties has chosen a new leader.Julie Hutcheson will become the new executive director of Green Foothills, the group announced Tuesday. Based in Palo Alto, Green Foothills was founded in 1962 by novelist Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wallace Stegner and 26 other community leaders at a time when explosive post-War II growth was were turning orchards and country roads into freeways and office parks.In more recent decades, the group, previously known as Committee for Green Foothills, has won drawn-out battles to preserve thousands of acres farmland and open space in Coyote Valley on San Jose’s southern edges, an area Cisco and Apple once eyed as world headquarters in the 1980s and 1990s. It also helped convince Caltrans to abandon plans to reroute Highway 1 over the hills at Devil’s Slide near Pacifica and build a...

Correction: Jordan Poole’s contract

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:21 GMT

A story that ran in the sports section and online Oct. 10, 2023 incorrectly reported the terms of the Warriors’ contract with Jordan Poole, who has since been traded to Washington. It was a four-deal worth between $123 million and $140 million, depending on incentives, according to multiple reports.

Feds up reward money, now offer $150k for information leading to arrests of suspects who target mail carriers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:21 GMT

OAKLAND — Federal officials are now offering $150,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrests of people who target mail carriers, following a surge in such cases in the Bay Area.The sizable reward money increase announced Tuesday came as authorities announced charges of mail theft against two East Bay residents, bringing to 10 the total number of Bay Area residents recently charged with crimes involving the postal service or its workers.At a Tuesday press conference at the Oakland federal building, U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey of the Northern District of California said the latest people charged are a 19-year-old Antioch resident and a 33-year-old Oakland resident found with stolen keys to help them steal mail. Four others who were indicted, including an American Canyon man, were charged with unlawful possession of mail keys, Ramsey said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | East Oakland’s harsh realities on full display at start of trial ...

Dublin Boulevard closed in both directions due to gas leak

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:21 GMT

(KRON) -- Dublin Boulevard is closed in both directions due to a gas leak, the Dublin Police Department announced Tuesday. The closure is between Tassajara Road and Brannigan Street. Victim in fatal big rig crash on Richmond-San Rafael Bridge identified The roadway was expected to reopen around 5 p.m. Tuesday, police said. No other information was made immediately available.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

San Jose man admitted to poisoning mom with fentanyl: court documents

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:21 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- A San Jose man said he poisoned his mother's cups of oat milk and wine with fentanyl, according to recently filed court documents. Investigators allege that Bradley Dexter, 40, confessed during a police interrogation to intentionally poisoning his mother with the powerful opioid, and nearly killing his father with a metal baton. Kathleen Dexter's death was classified as a homicide and her son is charged with murder. Court documents noted a possible motive behind why the son allegedly wanted to kill his 73-year-old mother.During their investigation into the woman's sudden death, San Jose Police Department officers interviewed her family members and friends. "Several informed us that Kathleen and the suspect did not have a good relationship," SJPD Det. Catherine Van Brande wrote in court documents."Kathleen's best friend ... told us that Kathleen had recently told her that the suspect had threatened to kill Kathleen," Brande wrote. The victim told her best ...

La tormenta Max deja 2 personas muertas en Guerrero, sur de México

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:21 GMT

(CNN en Español) —  El paso de la tormenta tropical Max por costas del Pacífico mexicano causó este lunes la muerte de al menos dos personas y dejó herida a otra en Guerrero, en el sur del país, informó este martes la Secretaría de Gestión Integral de Riesgos y Protección Civil del gobierno del estado.Las dos personas muertas son dos hombres del municipio de Tecpan de Galeana, en la región de la Costa Grande de Guerrero, de acuerdo con un informe que la institución difundió a medios. Este detalló que las muertes ocurrieron en hechos separados: una sucedió en el poblado de Naxco, luego de que la víctima fue arrastrada por un río, y otra en la carretera federal Acapulco-Zihuatanejo, en un accidente carretero.En tanto, la persona lesionada es un menor de edad a quien le cayó un árbol en Tecpan de Galeana.El Servicio Meteorológico Nacional pronosticó este lunes por la noche que Max se debilitaría en las horas siguientes.Tanto la tormenta Max como el huracán Lidia, que este martes ...

The ABCs of teaching kids to read: Maryland’s continued shift to the ‘Science of Reading’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:21 GMT

Maryland’s approach to reading instruction for the state’s youngest children has been evolving over the past few years.In the 2020-2021 academic year, the state’s “Ready to Read Act” went into effect. It required screening of all incoming kindergarten students to check whether a student could be at risk for reading difficulties.In July, outgoing State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury outlined the state’s approach to the “Science of Reading” in a memo to the Maryland State Board of Education. In that July 21 memo Choudhury wrote, the method “outlines essential components of effective reading instruction,” including an emphasis on phonics.Choudhury said that stands in contrast to what is known as the balanced literacy approach, one that “often lacks rigorous, evidence-based foundations.”Since then, Choudhury resigned and took a post as an advisor to the state’s Board of Education and Carey Wright...

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer laments ‘heartbreaking’ breakup of Pac-12

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:21 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Growing up in the Bay Area, UCLA coach Cori Close received one of the best lessons of her life.As a sophomore in high school, Close attended the Tara VanDerveer Basketball Camp.“It actually totally changed the trajectory of where I was going,” Close said Tuesday during Pac-12 media day. “I went on to play against her in the NCAA Tournament as a player, and now I coach against her. I just think, ‘Man, what would the standards be without a Tara VanDerveer?’”Those standards will next be introduced to the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12 and the Big 10 after this season, when ten Pac-12 schools will head their separate ways.Stanford, led by VanDerveer since 1985, is joining the ACC.“It’s heartbreaking,” said VanDerveer, a Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer and the winningest coach in the history of the sport. “I’m in a bad dream. This is a nightmare.”Imagine how her peers feel.“That was one of the reasons that attracted me to the Pac,” Arizona State coach Natas...