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Opinion: Divest California public employee pensions from fossil fuels

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:47:01 GMT

California has long been a leader in the fight against climate change. Having already divested from coal, and given the climate crisis we witness every day, it is past time for the state to put its money where its mouth is and move decisively to completely divest large public employee pensions from the fossil fuel industry.Ending funding of this industry is critical to meet local, national and international climate goals. It’s also consistent with my office’s efforts to hold the industry accountable for decades of climate deception and the harms that conduct caused our communities. Six years ago, my office joined other cities and counties in filing lawsuits on behalf of state of California to do just that, but due to the complexities of our court system, many of those lawsuits are moving slowly.Thankfully, Senate Bill 252 provides California’s legislators an immediate opportunity to take real steps to end public investing in this industry. SB 252, the CalPERS and CalSTRS fossil fuel...

Marin teen arrested for alleged battery on church elder

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:47:01 GMT

A juvenile was arrested on suspicion of battery causing serious injury after allegedly punching a church elder.The incident happened June 9 at St. Luke Presbyterian Church, 10 Bayview Drive in San Rafael.Sheriff’s deputies was called to the church after the elder asked a group of teens hanging out on the roof of the building to leave.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Map: 3 killed, 7 injured in attacks in San Jose and Milpitas Crime and Public Safety | Infant girl overdoses on fentanyl but survives, East Bay mother charged with child abuse Crime and Public Safety | Oakland man convicted of murder despite shakeup over detective charged with perjury Crime and Public Safety | South Bay crime spree: Hearing held for San Jose man accused in deadly rampage Crime and Public Safety | Man carjacked at gunpoint after collision near SFO, police say One teen climbed down and struck the elder. The elder lost ...

Point Reyes tule elk fence may come down, feds say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:47:01 GMT

Signaling a potential shift in the management of wild tule elk in the Point Reyes National Seashore, the National Park Service is considering removing a fence that has separated its largest elk herd from private cattle ranches that lease parkland for more than four decades.The park service is proposing to remove the 3-mile-long, 8-foot-tall fence at its 2,600-acre Tomales Point tule elk preserve located at the tip of the Tomales Bay peninsula. The change would allow the herd of nearly 300 elk to roam in other areas of the park.Tule elk were reintroduced to the seashore in 1978 through the creation of the Tomales Point preserve. The preserve was lauded as an environmental success story because tule elk were once thought to have gone extinct decades earlier.In response to concerns from neighboring ranchers about elk disrupting their operations, the park erected a fence to sequester the herd. Two free-roaming tule elk herds have also been established in the park since the late 1990s.In...

Bomb squad safely removes grenade brought to Santa Cruz Police Department by concerned citizen

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:47:01 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — The Santa Cruz Police Station and the corner of Center and Laurel streets were closed for about an hour around 2 p.m. Monday after a community member brought what he believed was a grenade to the station to turn it in.According to Santa Cruz Police spokesperson Joyce Blaschke, the object was confirmed by officials to be a military-grade incendiary thermite grenade and the community member that handed it over meant well.A military-grade incendiary thermite grenade. Local law enforcement asks that if any ordnance or explosive items are found by residents in the future, that they refrain from touching it and immediately call the police or sheriff’s office. (contributed – Santa Cruz Police) Blaschke told the Sentinel that the reporting party found the grenade while helping to clean out someone else’s residence.The grenade, held by an intact metal casing, was removed by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad from the front seat of the reporting party’s car an...

Skinner: California should require that EVs can power homes, businesses

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:47:01 GMT

The record heatwaves and devastating wildfires that California has experienced in recent years have often forced utility companies to turn off the power, leaving our homes and businesses without electricity. As the climate crisis intensifies, such extraordinary events are likely to occur more frequently, leaving us with more outages and placing a substantial strain our electric grid, both in summer and winter.Many Californians have increasingly responded to days-long power outages and rolling blackouts by purchasing backup generators, especially diesel generators. While it makes sense that we would want to avoid losing power, fossil-fuel backup generators, particularly diesel ones, produce significant amounts of air pollution and are harmful to public health.Fortunately, there is already a green alternative that has the potential to eliminate or greatly reduce the need for fossil-fuel generators — the batteries in electric vehicles.EVs are becoming very popular, particularly i...

Opinion: Migrant flights toy with lives rather than address immigration

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:47:01 GMT

With 2024 campaigns heating up, immigration politics are as well, and we can expect the election cycle to bring much fire and brimstone. Sadly, as has long been the case in U.S. history, immigrants will likely suffer as a result of the political maneuverings.Seeking to establish his tough immigration enforcement credentials as the Republican primaries near, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made headlines by taking the extraordinary step of flying migrants to Democratic states that are more open to immigrants. Last year, he arranged for a group to be flown to tourist destination Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, a Democratic bastion. And this month, DeSantis sent flights to Sacramento making it the latest blue-state dumping ground.Sadly, DeSantis’ publicity stunts adversely affect real people and real lives. To his credit, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and others embraced the migrants with open arms, providing them with food, shelter and lawyers to help them address their immigra...

California attorney admits to swindling investors out of $8 million to fund lavish lifestyle

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:47:01 GMT

A Newport Beach attorney has agreed to plead guilty to scamming investors out of more than $8 million to fund a lavish lifestyle that included jewelry, cars, around-the-clock gambling and a six-month stay at a swanky Las Vegas resort, federal prosecutors said Tuesday, June 13.Sara Jacqueline King, 39, who operates King Family Lending LLC and is a partner of the King Reuben law firm, is charged with one count each of wire fraud and money laundering. King is expected to make her initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on June 20.She could not be reached for comment.According to the plea agreement, Newport Beach-based King Family Lending purportedly offered short-term, high-interest loans to professional athletes, celebrities and other high-net-worth individuals.The loans supposedly were secured by the borrowers’ own assets, including designer handbags, watches, luxury automobiles, yachts and earnings from guaranteed sports contracts, prosecutors said.From January 2022 u...

California domestic violence trial: Premeditated murder or a snap decision?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:47:01 GMT

For more than 15 minutes, Andrew Mathew Stewart held his girlfriend Kim Grajeda at gunpoint in an upstairs bedroom in their house south of Riverside after having already shot her once in the shoulder.His father, Curt Stewart, begged him to drop the gun.Instead, Deputy District Attorney Jessica Roundy told jurors on Tuesday, June 13, Andrew Stewart dragged Grajeda by the hair into another bedroom. It was there that the 21-year-old Stewart, as Riverside County sheriff’s deputies entered the house and the couple’s infant son lay in a crib in another room, fired six more bullets into Grajeda in rapid succession, killing the 23-year-old and wounding his father as he tried to shield her.The slaying on June 1, 2019, ended a tumultuous relationship in which Stewart assaulted Grajeda and controlled her life, her mother said shortly after her daughter’s death, right down to the type of milk she drank.Roundy told jurors that Stewart previously hit a pregnant Grajeda with a baseball bat and onc...

Google must break up digital ad business over competition concerns, European regulators say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:47:01 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union antitrust regulators took aim at Google’s lucrative digital advertising business in an unprecedented decision, saying Wednesday that the tech giant must sell off some of its ad business to address competition concerns. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch and top antitrust enforcer, said its preliminary view after an investigation is that “only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its services” would satisfy the concerns. The 27-nation EU has led the global movement to crack down on Big Tech companies — including groundbreaking rules on artificial intelligence — but it has previously relied on issuing blockbuster fines, including three antitrust penalties for Google worth billions of euros (dollars). It’s the first time the bloc has told a tech giant that it must split up key parts of its business over violations of the EU’s strict antitrust laws, though details on what that would look like have not been...

New Spain coach expects improved ‘La Roja’ in Final Four of Nations League

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:47:01 GMT

ENSCHEDE, Netherlands (AP) — After a lackluster start to his stint as Spain coach, Luis de la Fuente arrives at the Final Four of the Nations League expecting to see an improved version of “La Roja.”De la Fuente, who replaced Luis Enrique after the World Cup in Qatar, is under pressure after Spain struggled in its first two matches under him in March. It needed two late goals in a hard-fought 3-0 win over a Norway team missing Erling Haaland to open its qualifying campaign for the 2024 European Championship, then lost 2-0 at Scotland.“Now we should be closer to what we expect,” De la Fuente said Wednesday, a day before Spain’s semifinal against Italy in the Netherlands. “The team is taking steps forward, little by little, I can see it every day in training.”He said players are becoming more used to his ideas and believes the squad has the potential to win the Nations League title.“We haven’t had a lot of time, but we will try to be up to the task,” De la Fuente said. “I think ...