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Letters: No on SB 584 | Opening up | Not enough | Unkind language | Pragmatism wins | Ban horse racing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:23 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.SB 584 could pricefolks out of vacationsIf you like to vacation in your home state of California and stay in short-term rentals (VRBO, Airbnb), be prepared to pay more.If passed, Senate Bill 584 will increase the taxes you will pay to stay in a rental property by 15%. This is on top of existing local taxes. For example, if you want to vacation in a short-term rental at the beach in Santa Cruz, your total tax will be 29%.While raising funds to pay for affordable housing is noble, taxing people who just want to go on vacation is not the way to do it. Families forced to pay 29% tax may not find the extra funds available and either vacation less or not at all. This will also impact the tourism industry with fewer visitors.Write your legislators today and urge them to vote against SB 584.Beth Weber-GuarinoSan Jose‘Get comfortable withdiscomfort’ to open upRe: “Gen Z teens don’t always ...

Contra Costa Animal Services waiving adoption fees amid crowded shelters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:23 GMT

(KRON) -- All animals at Contra Costa Animal Services shelters will be free to adopt during the month of June as the county shelters near full capacity, according to CCAS. In an effort to clear shelter space, CCAS is seeking adopters and qualified foster homes to help alleviate the crowded shelters.In particular, the shelter is looking for adopters or foster homes for large breed dogs, CCAS said. More trouble for downtown SF as owner of Hilton, Parc 55 cease payments on hotel properties “Like most shelters, we’re experiencing a noticeable increase of animals coming into our facility and we’re close to reaching our capacity,” says Dr. Katherine Mills, DVM, CCAS Chief of Shelter Medicine. “With an already crowded shelter and an average daily intake of nearly 20 animals each day, we’re asking for the community’s help in getting as many pets out of the shelter as we possibly can through adoption and foster.” Contra Costa Animal Services currently has over 100 pets seeking permanent or...

Canadian province of Quebec looks for international support to fight wildfires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:23 GMT

MONTREAL (AP) — Quebec is looking internationally for support as it struggles to battle more than 160 forest fires during what federal officials say is shaping up to be among Canada’s worst fire seasons ever.With more than 480 wilderness firefighters on the ground, Quebec can fight around 30 fires, François Legault told reporters Monday, adding that normally firefighters would come from other provinces to help.“When I talk to the premiers of other provinces, they have their hands full,” Legault told a briefing in Quebec City.On Friday afternoon there were 324 fires burning across Canada. As of Monday morning that had grown to 413, and by late afternoon, the total jumped again to 42.“The situation remains serious,” Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said. “The images that we have seen so far this season are some of the most severe we have we have ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-n...

Rangers transfer deGrom to 60-day IL, push return to at least late June

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:23 GMT

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jacob deGrom’s return for the AL West-leading Texas Rangers has been pushed back until at least late June after the two-time National League Cy Young Award winner was transferred to the 60-day injured list Monday.DeGrom hasn’t pitched since April 28, when he exited early because of injury concerns for the second time in a span of three starts. He was placed on the 15-day IL the following day after an MRI showed inflammation in his right elbow.General manager Chris Young said deGrom “hasn’t improved maybe as quickly as we had hoped” after five bullpen sessions since going on the IL. Another MRI and additional testing are now planned for the 34-year-old right-hander the Rangers signed to a $185 million, five-year contract last December.The transfer to the 60-day IL makes June 28 the earliest he could be activated.“We don’t see anything before that as a possibility,” Young said. “We want to make sure that we proceed cautiously.”DeGrom was back with the team Mond...

McClanahan earns MLB-leading 9th win, Rays beat Red Sox 4-1

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:23 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Rays slugger Luke Raley hit a deep fly ball toward the 420-foot marker in the center field triangle — the deepest part of Fenway Park. Kiké Hernandez tracked it, leapt and reached over the fence to snare it. An inning later, Alex Verdugo drifted toward the right field stands, where the short wall juts out away from home pate beyond the Pesky Pole. Brushing off a fan in the front row, he gloved Francisco Mejía’s potential home run to preserve a scoreless tie.Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash didn’t know how many more chances his team would get. “You want to get greedy, certainly in this ballpark against that team,” Cash said after Shane McClanahan held off Boston 4-1 on Monday to earn his major league-leading ninth victory. “You’ve got to find a way to get greedy. And they prevented that early on.”McClanahan (9-1) pitched six innings of five-hit ball, and Raley eventually found a wall the Red Sox couldn’t leap above to help the Rays beat Boston for the thir...

Hovland goes from winning Memorial to caddying in US Open qualifier

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:23 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Viktor Hovland didn’t have much time to celebrate the biggest win of his career. One day after winning the Memorial, he went 36 holes as a caddie in U.S. Open qualifying Monday.Hovland, who won in a playoff Sunday at Muirfield Village and earned $3.6 million, was on the bag for Zach Bauchou, his former roommate at Oklahoma State.This was not planned all that far in advance.“We went to dinner on Saturday and I jokingly said, ‘Why don’t you come caddie on Monday?’ He said, ‘Dude, I will.’ If he says he’s going to do something, he’ll do it,” Bauchou said.Hovland was one shot out of the lead at the Memorial on Saturday. He closed with a 2-under 70 and then won with a par in the playoff over Denny McCarthy.Hovland declined to be interviewed. He had a dozen or so people following at Brookside Golf & Country Club, some of them taking video of the No. 5 player in the world ranking a bunker or tending the flag.When the long day was over, Hovl...

Especie misteriosa enterraba a sus muertos y tallaba símbolos 100.000 años antes que los humanos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:23 GMT

(CNN) — Investigadores encontraron evidencia de que los miembros de una misteriosa especie humana arcaica enterraban a sus muertos y tallaban símbolos en las paredes de las cuevas mucho antes de la evidencia más temprana de entierros por parte de los humanos modernos.Los cerebros pertenecientes a la especie extinta, conocida como Homo naledi, tenían alrededor de un tercio del tamaño de un cerebro humano moderno.Estas revelaciones podrían cambiar la comprensión que se tiene en la actualidad de la evolución humana, porque hasta ahora tales comportamientos solo se asociaban con el Homo sapiens y los neandertales con cerebros más grandes.Los hallazgos se detallan en tres estudios que fueron aceptados para su publicación en la revista eLife, y las versiones preliminares de los artículos están disponibles en BioRxiv.El equipo de estudio expone fósiles de Homo naledi en el Instituto de Estudios Evolutivos de la Universidad de Witwatersrand, en Johannesburgo. (Crédito: Robert Clark/Na...

Photos: Floods and hail hit the Denver metro area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:23 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Another round of rain and storms on Monday dropped hail and caused street flooding around the Denver metro area.Heavy rain moved through late afternoon, continuing a weeks-long pattern of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. How will the rain affect Colorado’s popular reservoirs? Street flooding had an effect on the afternoon drive. One person was rescued from their flooded vehicle in Arvada, with five others escaping their flooded cars in the same area. Images showed similar flooding around Denver and Lakewood.Crews rescued a driver from a flooded road in Arvada, Colo. on June 5, 2023. (Photo: Arvada Fire)Flooding at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Dahlia Street in Denver (Credit: Allen Davis)Flooding at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Dahlia Street in Denver (Credit: Allen Davis)Flooding at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Dahlia Street in Denver (Credit: Allen Davis)Flooding at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Dahlia Street in Denver (Credit: A...

Denver accused of ignoring complaints about homeless machete attacker

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:23 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Surveillance video shows Lou Charara was on the phone with 911 when he was attacked in front of his downtown business by a homeless man with a machete.The 60-year-old owner of the methadone clinic, whose 911 call was confirmed by Denver Department of Safety dispatch records, said he needed dozens of stitches and a CT scan to ensure he didn't have brain damage."I was on the phone with 911 telling them, 'Please, please, please, we need you here. We've been calling a few days now and we feel threatened,'" said Charara, the owner of Comprehensive Behavioral Health Center at 2217 Champa St. Camping ban in Douglas County a step from becoming law He told the Problem Solvers the machete slice "was so deep that it broke the skull."The Feb. 8 attack happened two days after Charara's office manager, Roman Oleksyn, had called Denver dispatch himself to complain about a homeless tent on the sidewalk near the clinic's front door.He also submitted a complaint, dated Feb. 6, to th...

Wildfire risk: California insurance market rattled by companies' withdrawals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:55:23 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two insurance industry giants have pulled back from California's home insurance marketplace, saying that increasing wildfire risk and soaring construction costs have prompted them to stop writing new policies in the nation's most populous state.State Farm announced last week it would stop accepting applications for all business and personal lines of property and casualty insurance, citing inflation, a challenging reinsurance market and “rapidly growing catastrophe exposure.” The decision did not impact personal auto insurance.“We take seriously our responsibility to manage risk," State Farm said. “It’s necessary to take these actions now to improve the company’s financial strength.” Fire crews rescue driver from flooded road in Arvada Allstate, another insurance powerhouse, announced in November it would pause new homeowners, condo and commercial insurance policies in California to protect current customers. “The cost to insure new home customers in California i...