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Sen. Dianne Feinstein dies at age 90

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:56 GMT

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), one of the Senate’s most prominent women, has died at the age of 90, a person with knowledge of her passing confirmed. Feinstein served three decades as a senator from California, becoming an icon and a trailblazer in the process.A former mayor of San Francisco, Feinstein is the longest-serving member of the Senate Democratic conference and during her Senate tenure left a mark on a range of issues, including national security and gun control.Feinstein had been struggling with her health, and had missed some work this week."She didn't feel well this morning," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Thursday, noting Feinstein was unable to attend a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Punchbowl first reported the news of Feinstein’s death.  Feinstein had taken part in Senate votes on Thursday morning.Feinstein had to rely on a wheelchair to get around the Senate after she missed nearly three months of work in Washington because of a severe b...

City Hall homeless encampment growing downtown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:56 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A homeless encampment is growing on the lawn of St. Louis City Hall, and it's getting the attention of multiple city officials.We're told at least part of the encampment at Tucker and Market is visible from Mayor Tishaura Jones' window. The growth of the camp illustrates the struggle that the city has in dealing with homelessness.The tents are on the City Hall lawn right by Market Street. FOX 2's St. Louis Post-Dispatch partners reported that late last week there were 14 tents in the encampment, but on Thursday that number had grown to at least 25. The encampment can be an eyesore, as trash litters the ground, areas smell of urine, and reported drug use.It's understood that just Thursday, paramedics were called to help a man who had slid off a step and was unresponsive. St. Louis had only 2 officers for an entire district – Both called in sick Nick Dunne, a spokesperson for Mayor Jones, told the Post that the city still has no immediate plans to move anyone at lea...

California Highway Patrol officer gets hurt during confrontation with protester (video)

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:56 GMT

A protest over rent and wages turned violent Thursday when California Highway Patrol officers tried to remove demonstrators from a state office building in downtown Los Angeles.The chaos ensued as union organizers and supporters of the Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) rallied in front of the Ronald Reagan State Building on South Spring Street.The group is calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign Senate Bill 567, making it more difficult for landlords to evict tenants.A CHP officer is seen brandishing his service weapon after falling to the ground. Los Angeles, Calif. Sept. 28, 2023. (KTLA)Video recorded by a KTLA photojournalist shows a CHP officer escorting a demonstrator from the lobby of the building and attempting to close the front doors behind him.When another protestor, a man in a yellow shirt, tries to hold one of the doors open, the officer shoves him and they both eventually fall to the ground.A CHP officer is seen brandishing his service weapon after...

Tom Heyman Digs Pogues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:56 GMT

Tom Heyman Digs Pogues: Singer and songwriter Tom Heyman told us about his Pogues experience.Tom Heyman: I spent 1983/84 “studying” English Literature at the University of Reading in the UK. In truth, the only thing I really “studied” while I was there were the gig listings In NME, Melody Maker and Sounds.One of the most memorable shows I ever saw was the Pogues in 1984 at the Electric Ballroom in London on Easter Monday. On this show the band appeared on stage dressed in full 1940s woolen NY Police uniforms, and for the first 30 seconds of the show the air was thick with plastic pint glasses being hurled towards the ceiling and towards the stage, which was I suppose a show of some sort of exuberance or appreciation on the part of the absolutely bonkers audience.The thing I remember most about the show was a feeling of kinetic excitement, the heaving audience dancing madly to a band that was playing on the edge of absolute chaos. Shane MacGowan was still playing guitar at this point...

Girls flag football sights & sounds: ‘I’ll be calling plays against Steve Young and John Paye’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:56 GMT

PIONEER: A COACH FOR ALL SEASONSJoe Berticevich is best known in the South Bay high school sports community as the longtime boys basketball coach at Pioneer.He’s also the San Jose school’s athletic director.Now, he’s added another line in his resume: Girls flag football coach.No, he wasn’t his first choice to coach Pioneer’s team in the inaugural flag season this fall. But when others couldn’t do it, he figured, “Why not?”So Berticevich went to work. A self-proclaimed “born and raised Niners fan,” he watched YouTube flag football videos to fill up the playsheet and, from a competitive standpoint, has approached the season as he would basketball.“I am treating this very competitively,” he said. “Put the best foot forward. Not just going through the motions. No, we’re out there trying to put the best team (on the field) and be as competitive as we can.”So far, so good.Pioneer improved to 4-1 on Tuesday when it beat Willow Glen 20-0. That resul...

The N-word and racist taunts: Tesla allowed racism in its Fremont factory, US government lawsuit alleges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:56 GMT

By Peter Valdes-Dapena | CNNThe United States government’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Tesla Thursday alleging the automaker allowed repeated and overt displays of racism toward Black employees in its Fremont factory.Racist slurs were allegedly used often by non-Black employees when speaking to Black employees at the factory, according to the suit. The suit quotes a Black Tesla worker saying that “people were using the N-Word all the time, especially men, and particularly White men.”The suit also alleges instances of racist taunts and threats, including death threats written in the bathroom and racist graffiti on “vehicles rolling off the production lines.”Not the first such lawsuitBlack employees who complained to supervisors about the behavior were subject to retaliation, including reassignment to unpleasant jobs, reschedulings and firings, according to the suit, which was filed in US District Court in the Northern District of California. It further charges the ra...

Trailblazer Dianne Feinstein, California’s longest serving U.S. senator, dies at 90

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:56 GMT

Dianne Feinstein, California’s longest-serving U.S. senator who led San Francisco through its darkest and most violent days as mayor in the 1970s and later authored a federal ban on assault weapons that lasted a decade, died Thursday night, according to multiple reports.At 90, she was the oldest member of Congress and the longest-serving female in the chamber’s history. During a lingering bout of shingles earlier this year and ongoing reports of her mental decline, she resisted pressure from her own party to resign her seat.Her death will force Gov. Gavin Newsom to make a crucial decision he said recently he hoped he wouldn’t have to do: appoint a replacement to serve the rest of Feinstein’s term with the hotly contested race to succeed her in full swing.At the start of her career, Feinstein was a trailblazer for women and gay rights, and after the 1978 assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, she emerged as a reassuring lead...

Travel Troubleshooter: Can I get the fare difference refunded after I was downgraded?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:56 GMT

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: Last year, my family and I had first-class tickets on American Airlines to fly from Boston to Phoenix. American delayed that flight, rebooked us and then downgraded us to coach class on another flight.Christopher Elliott, the Travel Troubleshooter A few days later, I received an email from American that it had refunded the fare difference between first class and economy class, and advised me to contact my travel agent.When I returned from our vacation, I contacted the travel agent at AAA, who had arranged our tour through Pleasant Holidays. The AAA travel agent contacted Pleasant Holidays, which had no record of a refund from American.Over the course of a few months, I followed up with AAA and Pleasant Holidays on the status of this credit to no avail. Finally, I reached out to one of the American executives who you list on your consumer advocacy site. The airline contacted me a day later and referred me to a website to check the status of the refund...

San Jose promised a blight strike force — but not a single inspection has occurred

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:56 GMT

It was sold this summer as a crackdown on businesses and residents who’ve let trash, weeds and graffiti fester in San Jose’s commercial districts — a new pilot program spurred by years of frustration over public safety and disheveled buildings in the city’s downtown and beyond.Instead of the current model, in which citations are issued mainly after resident complaints, a devoted team of code enforcement officers would proactively seek out blight and ding those responsible.“This is really about accountability,” proclaimed San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan at a news conference about the Focus Area Service Team, or FAST, shortly before the council approved the program in June. “We’ve talked a lot about getting back to the basics. Creating a city that is safer, that is cleaner and (where) everyone is housed. And to get there, we got to hold everyone accountable.”Including, it turns out, the city itself.The launch of the coveted pilot program has b...

Webster tube to close overnight next week for maintenance: Roadshow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:07:56 GMT

Q: When Caltrans sent information about overnight maintenance closures for the Webster tube, I searched for Alameda residents’ comments about the tubes. Here’s one from 2019:“The tubes are the lifeline, along with our four bridges, to get out of Alameda in a disaster, or for emergency responders to come to Alameda.”Roger EckerA: Caltrans will close the Webster tube for maintenance work overnight each night on Oct. 2, 3 and 4. The tube will close at 10 p.m. and reopen at 4:30 a.m. the following morning. It will remain open during the dayDuring the overnight closures, detours will be in effect at the Posey Tube and CHP officers will be in place to assist motorists.Q: I read too much about speeders on Highway 17 and thought it would not affect me. Pretty much every Monday, I drive from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz for pleasure. I set my cruise control at the speed limit and have a comfortable ride.About a month ago, we returned after having dinner at the pier. It was...