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Editorial: SVB failure adds to tech industry’s greedy image

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:40 GMT

Day by day, month by month, year by year, greed is ruining the tech industry’s image.This time it was tech’s response to the failure of its primary financial institution, Silicon Valley Bank. When it comes to privacy, child internet protections, curbing misinformation or, now, protecting our banking system, tech companies repeatedly put profit before the public good.The federal government bailed out tech this time, but the public’s patience with the industry is running thin, threatening its future.Silicon Valley Bank was a niche institution catering to financing for the tech industry. Two weeks before its collapse, the bank’s CEO, Greg Becker, reportedly sold $3.6 million in company shares. That’s right. Becker apparently made sure he got his money knowing the potential that others could be caught holding the bag.It was Becker who helped bring about the crisis. In 2015, he pleaded with Congress to weaken the Dodd-Frank Act regulations, created after the...

A closer look at the Warriors’ embarrassing road record and how they can turn it around

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:40 GMT

The vibes are buzzing when the Warriors play at home. A 29-7 record at Chase Center buoys their playoff hopes and the invigorating home win streaks inspire talk of the Warriors finally turning a corner.But the road Warriors are nothing like the home Warriors.Those big scoring games that lift them at home can’t plaster over poor defensive communication that completely falls apart when Golden State is on the road.Those defensive lapses are the primary reason for the Warriors’ 7-26 road record. Though not the worst road record in the NBA — the Spurs (6-27) and Rockets (6-28) have them beat for futility — but they definitely own the worst road record among playoff contenders.In fact, the Warriors are on pace to own one of the worst road records for a playoff team in modern NBA history. The 1987-88 San Antonio Spurs and 1985-86 Chicago Bulls made the playoffs finishing with identical 8-33 road records, the worst in last 50 years, according to Associated Press. The...

College basketball: Santa Clara Broncos catch a break, stay home for NIT opener vs. Sam Houston State

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:40 GMT

The Santa Clara Broncos are having one of the best seasons in school history and were a slam dunk to be picked to play in the National Invitation Tournament. But playing Wednesday night’s NIT opener at the Leavy Center was a nice twist for the Broncos.Unlike the NCAA Tournament, which is played at neutral sites, the NIT’s top 16 seeds have the opportunity to play at home right up until the Final Four — this year in Las Vegas instead of Madison Square Garden, where it had been held since 1938.The Broncos drew No. 3 seed Sam Houston State, but aren’t playing in Huntsville, Texas, because of a scheduling quirk. Not a basketball schedule, but an academic one.Sam Houston State is on spring break this week and declined to host the first-round game. Bearkats athletic director Bobby Williams said in a statement that without the students and staff on campus they “would not have been able to meet the standards required to host an opening-round game or create an a...

Opinion: California still fails to uphold defendants’ right to counsel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:40 GMT

Sixty years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous landmark ruling intended to create a more equitable criminal justice system. In California, we are still waiting for the change that was promised.On March 18, 1963, the justices decided in Gideon v. Wainwright that defendants in felony cases have the constitutional right to a free attorney if they can’t afford to hire one.If you were too poor to pay a lawyer, it stood to reason that you could not meaningfully exercise your Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial.That is what happened to Clarence Earl Gideon, who was was accused of stealing bottles of beer and soda and about $5 in vending machine change from a pool hall in Panama City, Fla. The judge refused to appoint him an attorney. So Gideon, who was indigent, had to represent himself at trial. He was sentenced to five years in prison.While incarcerated, Gideon sent a handwritten appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that the judge had violated his right to a fair ...

Detached house sells for $1.9 million in Los Gatos

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:40 GMT

232 Barbara Drive – Google Street ViewThe property located in the 200 block of Barbara Drive in Los Gatos was sold on March 2, 2023. The $1,900,000 purchase price works out to $1,279 per square foot. The house, built in 1963, has an interior space of 1,486 square feet. The property features three bedrooms, two baths, a garage, and two parking spaces. It sits on a 6,000-square-foot lot, which also has a pool.Additional houses that have recently been sold close by include:On Union Avenue, Los Gatos, in December 2022, a 1,612-square-foot home was sold for $1,743,000, a price per square foot of $1,081. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 1,557-square-foot home on the 400 block of Hershner Way in Los Gatos sold in October 2022, for $1,990,000, a price per square foot of $1,278. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.In December 2022, a 1,830-square-foot home on Anne Way in San Jose sold for $1,985,000, a price per square foot of $1,085. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. 

2 more Santa Rosa students arrested for having knives at school

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:40 GMT

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KRON) -- Fixed blade knives are what the Santa Rosa School District have been allegedly finding on students this month, and not just at one school. Knives have been found at a total of three different schools across the district, including the one where a student lost their life to a knife fight on March 1.The most recent events happened Tuesday. Santa rosa police said they were called to Herbert Slater Middle School and found a five-inch fixed blade knife and drug paraphernalia inside the backpack of 14-year-old. PHOTOS: Van full of marijuana explodes on Highway 101 Then, about an hour later at Elsie Allen High School, police were called again about a teacher allegedly finding a three-inch blade knife on the classroom floor. Police said school officials determined it had been brought by a 15-year-old boy.Both students were arrested at both schools for procession of a knife on campus.But that’s not all. Over the weekend, two Montgomery High School students were...

Yet another atmospheric river is on its way to the Bay

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:40 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Yet another atmospheric river is expected to hit California next week, dousing an already drenched Bay Area. KRON4 meteorologist John Shrable said this next storm can be expected to hit between March 21 and March 23."For areas that are already flooding this will be especially concerning with rising water levels yet again," Shrable said. "Being another warm storm this will also likely result in more Sierra snow melt and runoff into reservoirs and streams."The National Weather Service said the high winds that come with the next storm could also lead to coastal erosion and exacerbate flooding.Early indications show the wet weather could ease up after March 23, according to the NWS.The Bay Area has seen a parade of storms this winter season that has brought major flooding, damage and power outages to the area. This next storm will be California's 12th atmospheric river bringing with it, again, drenching downpours and whipping winds."It's sure to be interesting," ...

UK Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt predicts the country will not enter technical recession this year

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:40 GMT

LONDON (AP) — UK Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt predicts the country will not enter technical recession this year.Source

Retail sales slip 0.4% in Feb. after a spending burst in January as Americans navigate inflation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Retail sales slip 0.4% in Feb. after a spending burst in January as Americans navigate inflation.Source

Regulators to announce decision in $31B freight rail merger

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:40 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The first major railroad merger since the 1990s could be approved Wednesday when federal regulators announce their decision on Canadian Pacific’s $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad.The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has been reviewing the deal since it was agreed to back in 2021. The STB plans to post its decision online Wednesday morning.This deal was nearly derailed in 2021 when Canadian National offered $33.6 billion and Kansas City Southern agreed to that offer. But that competing deal fell apart after the Surface Transportation Board rejected part of Canadian National’s acquisition plan.Regulators said in a report earlier this year that the only major impact of the deal would be more noise in places where train traffic is expected to increase significantly. The Surface Transportation Board essentially rejected concerns that the deal would create problems in towns along the tracks by blocking crossings for extended periods ...