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Biden approves Alaska oil project despite activists’ outrage

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:19 GMT

By Matthew Daly and Chris Megerian | Associated PressWASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Monday it is approving the huge Willow oil-drilling project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope, a major climate move by President Joe Biden that drew quick condemnation from environmentalists who said it flies in the face of the Democratic president’s pledges.The announcement came a day after the administration, in a move in the other direction toward conservation, said it would bar or limit drilling in some other areas of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.The Willow approval by the Bureau of Land Management would allow three drill sites, which would include up to 199 total wells. Two other drill sites proposed for the project would be denied. Project developer ConocoPhillips has said it considers the three-site option workable, “the right decision for Alaska and our nation” in the words of company chairman and CEO Ryan Lance.Houston-based ConocoPhillips will relinqu...

49ers free agency: Big move for Javon Hargrave; Broncos nab McGlinchey

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:19 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, one of the NFL’s top free agents, is coming to fortify the 49ers’ defensive line, at a steep cost.Hargrave agreed to terms on a four-year, $84 million deal with $40 million guaranteed, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter when the NFL’s free agency window opened Monday morning.The 49ers, through a team spokesman, are declining comment on free agency deals until Wednesday, which is when they first can become official with the start of the new league year.The 49ers poached Hargrave from the Philadelphia Eagles, who beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game before falling in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs.As Phase 1 of the 49ers’ offseason makeover began Monday morning, they addressed their No. 1 priority in restocking their defensive line, for new coordinator Steve Wilks, who replaced DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans coach).As news broke about Hargrave’s addition, ESPN reported that r...

Michael Cohen to testify before grand jury in Trump probe

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:19 GMT

By Michael R. Sisak | Associated PressNEW YORK — Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is expected to testify Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments he arranged and made on the former president’s behalf.Cohen arrived at the courthouse accompanied by his lawyer shortly in advance of his closed-door testimony, which comes at a critical time as the Manhattan district attorney’s office approaches a decision whether to seek charges against Trump.A Trump loyalist turned adversary, Cohen is likely to provide critical details about whatever involvement the Republican presidential candidate may have had in the payments made during the 2016 campaign to two women who alleged affairs or sexual encounters with him.“My goal is to tell the truth,” Cohen told reporters outside the courthouse, dismissing a suggestion that he might be motivated by a desire to see Trump behind bars.“This is not revenge,” he said. ...

Rain forecast for Bay Area as atmospheric river moves in

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:19 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The latest in a series of atmospheric rivers arriving in the Bay Area Monday evening is expected to bring significant rainfall, according to the National Weather Service. Scattered showers are possible throughout the day Monday with heavy rain expected to arrive overnight, according to KRON4 Meteorologist John Shrable. Bay Area storm updates: Storm damage already impacting traffic Along with what the NWS calls a "moderate to high potential for rain," the atmospheric river is expected to raise the possibility of flooding and road closures. Bay Area rain forecast this week"We are once again bracing for the impacts of an atmospheric river that is unfortunately coming at a time when our ground is already thoroughly saturated and our rivers, creeks and streams are already sitting at high levels," said KRON4 Meteorologist Kyla Grogan. "The result will be a very dangerous early morning on Tuesday as these heavier rains hit their crescendo bringing high runoff rate...

Pentagon Analyst Kept Intel Job After Joining Jan. 6 Mob, Planned to Kidnap Jewish Leaders

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:19 GMT

In 2018, a newly hired software engineer at a defense and intelligence contractor in the Washington, D.C., suburbs was assigned to a team led by a senior developer named Hatchet Speed.At first, the new engineer, Richard Ngo, got along well with Speed. They sometimes went out to lunch together and socialized away from the office. “Speed was my mentor at Novetta as the software lead,” Ngo later said in court testimony. “We worked together every day.”But after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Ngo noticed that Speed, a longtime Navy reservist who had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as an intelligence analyst and held other sensitive cyber and intelligence posts in connection with Naval Special Warfare units, seemed to be changing. Ngo had always known that Speed was a gun enthusiast, but after the Capitol riot, he became more openly anti-government than he had ever been before. “He was just frustrated with just how everything was going,” Ngo testified, adding th...

California budget deficit could delay new child care funding

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:19 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Every weekday, Patricia Moran has up to a dozen children in her San Jose home day care center, mostly from low-income families — and sometimes the kids are as young as 2 weeks old because their parents can’t afford to take more time off from work.In between helping the children make bubbles, serving them meals at a big table with small chairs and teaching them “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in English and Spanish, Moran said she is fielding phone calls from other parents — sometimes up to four per day — who are desperate to find care for their young children. That’s why Moran was surprised when Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is just starting his second term in office, proposed to delay funding for 20,000 additional slots for subsidized child care for low-income families in order to help balance the state budget. Even more perplexing was Newsom’s reasoning for the delay: The child care spots that were already funded were not yet being use...

Eagles’ Jason Kelce set to return for 13th season

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:19 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce tweeted on Monday that he would return for a 13th NFL season.Kelce has long been the heart of the Eagles and one of the top centers in the league. He played against his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35 for the NFL title.Kelce has been as durable as they come with the Super Bowl putting him at 149 consecutive games played. The 35-year-old Kelce was a sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft and is a five-time All-Pro.“I have put much thought into whether it makes sense to play another season,” Kelce wrote. “After talking it over with my wife and many other friends and family, I have decided to return for another year. Thank you to all my supporters and detractors for fueling me, I ain’t done yet!”The Eagles responded with a tweet of Kelce wearing a Batman mask from a game last season. Kelce was a free agent and can’t officially sign with the Eagles until W...

Will the government’s moves to stabilize banks work?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:19 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two large banks that cater to the tech industry have collapsed after a bank run, government agencies are taking emergency measures to backstop the financial system, and President Joe Biden is reassuring Americans that the money they have in banks is safe.It’s all eerily reminiscent of the financial meltdown that began with the bursting of the housing bubble 15 years ago. Yet the initial pace this time around seems even faster. Over the last three days, the U.S. seized the two financial institutions after a bank run on Silicon Valley Bank, based in Santa Clara, California. It was the largest bank failure since Washington Mutual went under in 2008. How did we get here? And will the steps the government unveiled over the weekend be enough? Here are some questions and answers about what has happened and why it matters: WHY DID SILICON VALLEY BANK FAIL? Silicon Valley Bank had already been hit hard by a rough patch for technology companies in recent months and the...

For Hill, a World Cup return to Manila was long time coming

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:19 GMT

The path for USA Basketball this summer on its way to the FIBA World Cup is set: from Las Vegas to Spain to Abu Dhabi to the Philippines.That’s a long journey. In Grant Hill’s case, taking the long way to Manila is symbolic, because his history with the Philippines started about three decades ago.Hill — now the managing director for USA Basketball’s men’s national team — went to the basketball-crazed country in the mid-1990s and knows how big the sport is there. Then a star for the Detroit Pistons, Hill was there to promote a shoe company; 30,000 people showed up to see him at a mall, his hotel needed special security and he still has a photograph showing him with one of his dining companions, former President Corazon Aquino.“The thing that was amazing was that she was an avid basketball fan,” Hill said Monday. “So, she knew about Detroit. She knew the Pistons. I mean, it was absolutely incredible. I just think the fans and the passion and the love of the game will be on full displa...

USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:19 GMT

The USA TODAY Sports Top 25 baseball poll, with team’s RECORDS THROUGH SUNDAY, total points based on 25 for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in the last poll and first-place votes received in parentheses.RecordPtsPvs1. LSU (27)15-177112. Tennessee14-369323. Mississippi (1)14-267654. Florida15-362965. Wake Forest (2)15-262446. Arkansas13-259687. Louisville14-158478. Vanderbilt12-549199. Stanford10-5487310. Virginia14-14591111. East Carolina12-34471312. UCLA12-34311213. Oklahoma State14-34201414. South Carolina (1)16-12932015. Texas A&M12-42631916. Virginia Tech12-42581017. North Carolina State14-22341518. TCU9-62321619. Texas Tech14-32292120. North Carolina12-51951721. Florida State11-41512222. Alabama15-21371823. Campbell12-292NR24. Boston College12-280NR25. Southern Mississippi10-57824Dropped out: No. 22 Oregon State (11-4); No. 25 Auburn (12-3).Others receiving votes: Miami (Fla.) (10-6) 75; Oregon State (11-4) 66; Florida Gulf Coast (14-3) 54; UC Santa Ba...