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Borenstein: Bay Area Democrats should cease attack on elections chief

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

With former President Donald Trump and his right-wing conspiracy followers attacking election officials nationwide, it’s disappointing to see Democratic Party activists piling on in the Bay Area.The attack from the left targets Tim Dupuis, the Alameda County elections chief, calling for his removal and claiming he has been unresponsive and responsible for ballot mistakes.To be sure, there’s room for improvement of the county elections office. But there is no evidence that Dupuis and his staff are undermining the vote. Quite the contrary.Rather than attack Dupuis with thin and misleading claims, the activists would better serve the election process by constructively seeking improvements. For buried in their accusations is a legitimate beef that Dupuis has too many responsibilities.Dual rolesUnlike in Contra Costa County where the elections chief is selected by voters, and in Santa Clara County where the head of the office reports to the county executive, Dupuis officially reports dir...

Opinion: Gov. Newsom would rather ‘transform’ San Quentin than fix it

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

On each of the five floors of the west block building at San Quentin State Prison is a maintenance sheet that lists year-round problems.“Water leaking in cell from chase again” was written by a prisoner on a maintenance sheet on the first floor. “Sink drain needs cleaned (sic) out,” another wrote. “Wall, sink, toilet area leaking,” wrote an occupant of another cell.Steven Baumgartner’s toilet does not flush properly.“It’s been doing it ever since I’ve been here, and I’ve been here for a year,” he said. He reported it six months ago. “In fact, I was going to report it again.”There are so many unhealthy conditions of confinement that have existed so long that they’re practically invisible to men there. Well, invisible to some.Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to convert San Quentin into a rehabilitation center does not address the deplorable living conditions at the 171-year-old prison.The list of problems on the maintenance sheets in the west block span time periods from a few days to several...

Biden and Xi are set to meet next week at the APEC summit. No detail is too small to sweat

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, there will be no such thing as a small detail.How they greet? If they eat? Where they sit? Will there be flowers? Bottled water or in a glass? “Pretty intense,” senior administration officials say of navigating delicate protocols. Any encounter involving the president and a foreign leader means managing tricky logistics, political and cultural, and every occurrence or utterance can potentially jolt the world order. But few nations are more attuned to etiquette than the Chinese, and the often-conflicting interests between Washington and Beijing might mean the seemingly trivial becomes meaningful. There’s probably “very detailed planning of the actual choreography of who enters a room where, if there will be pictures taken and all of that,” said Bonny Lin, senior fellow for Asian security and director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Bid...

Marsh powers Australia to 8-wicket win over Bangladesh at Cricket World Cup

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

Mitchell Marsh recorded his career-best score as Australia beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in the Cricket World Cup on Saturday.Marsh reached 177 not out off 132 balls as Australia registered its highest successful run-chase in World Cup history.He put on 175 runs off 135 balls for the unbeaten third wicket with Steve Smith, who scored 63 not out as Australia finished with 307-2 in 44.4 overs.This was after Adam Zampa picked 2-32 in 10 overs to help restrict Bangladesh to 306-8.It was Australia’s seventh straight win in the tournament. The five-time champions had started slow with losses to India and South Africa, but bounced back in style to confirm a semifinal spot.Australia finished third in the standings with 14 points — equal with second-placed South Africa but lower on net run-rate.The Aussies will play South Africa in the semifinals on Thursday in Kolkata. The two sides had also met in the 1999 World Cup semifinal at Edgbaston, where Australia advanced after a thrilling tied...

Sebastian Vollmer’s legacy creates a home atmosphere for Patriots vs Colts in Frankfurt

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — When New England takes on Indianapolis in Germany on Sunday, it may feel like a home game for the Patriots.The names Tom Brady and Bill Belichick certainly resonate with a growing number of NFL fans in Germany. However, Sebastian Vollmer is Patriots royalty here, too. The Patriots are competing with the Kansas City Chiefs to be the most popular team in Germany, thanks in part to Vollmer’s legacy.The offensive tackle from Duesseldorf, became a figurehead in the 2010s for a growing German audience keen to see a German player succeed in the NFL. The Patriots were the obvious choice for new fans looking for a team to support.Vollmer spent all of his eight-year NFL career with the Patriots, winning the Super Bowl after the 2014 season. He was still with the team, though injured, for another Super Bowl win two years later. His success came as free-to-air broadcasts of NFL games were starting to catch on in Germany.“That’s when it really started to pick up, ...

Jim Biden’s last name has helped open doors. It also has made him a target of House Republicans

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. (AP) — When a health care startup dreamed of building a network of rural hospitals several years ago, it turned to Jim Biden.Although he wasn’t a public health consultant or a medical expert, Jim Biden was the brother of Joe Biden, who had recently finished his term as vice president. The company’s chief executive believed Jim Biden would help provide the enterprise with “serious horsepower.”But Jim Biden wasn’t the secret weapon that Americore Health Services was counting on. The company imploded in 2019, filing for bankruptcy amid a pile of lawsuits and a federal investigation into fraud allegations. Americore also accused Jim Biden of failing to repay $600,000 in loans.Some of the Florida-based company’s hospitals closed, including one in Ellwood City, near the western edge of Pennsylvania, where medical equipment gathers dust and plywood covers broken windows. The only reminder of the bankrupt company’s brief tenure as the town’s biggest employer is...

The Beatles rompen récords en las listas del Reino Unido: ‘Now and Then’ se convierte en el sencillo número uno

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

(CNN) — The Beatles han logrado un regreso sin precedentes al número uno en las listas del Reino Unido con su última y “última” canción, “Now and Then”, convirtiéndose en el mejor sencillo del país.Lanzado el 2 de noviembre, “Now and Then” debutó en la lista oficial de sencillos del Reino Unido en el puesto 42 al día siguiente. Poco más de una semana después, este viernes, la melancólica melodía alcanzó el número uno.Ringo Starr aclara que la banda The Beatles “jamás” falsificaría la voz de John Lennon con inteligencia artificialThe Beatles establecieron un nuevo récord 60 años y seis meses después de su primer número uno en el Reino Unido, “From Me To You”, en mayo de 1963, según Official Charts, superando el lapso de 47 años y seis meses de Elvis Presley.También se produce otro récord 54 años después del anterior éxito número uno de la banda, “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, en 1969, superando la brecha de 44 años de la cantautora inglesa Kate Bush entre la canción...

17-year-old charged in shooting death of DC teenager

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

A Northwest D.C. teenager is being charged as an adult in the shooting death of a 14-year-old, police said.Lorenzo Thompson, 17, was arrested on Thursday and “charged, as an adult under Title 16, with Second Degree Murder While Armed” in the death of Niko Estep, of Southeast, according to D.C. police.Thompson was arrested after officers said Estep was found at the corner of 14th Street and Fairmont Street in Northwest, suffering from gunshot wounds on Nov. 3.Estep later died at a hospital.Police said a “second juvenile male victim” was also found in the 1400 block of Fairmont Street. He was hospitalized for treatment of his injuries, according to police.A map of the area where the shooting happened in Columbia Heights is below. Source

Traffic in SWMD clears up after flames engulfing vehicle gets put out

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

Officials are investigating a charred vehicle after it was up in flames in Southwest Miami-Dade. Miami Fire and Florida Highway Patrol reported the incident along State Road 874 between Miller Drive and Sunset Drive just before 6:45 a.m on Saturday.The flames have been put out.The traffic has now picked up speed compared to before.What exactly caused the fire is still under investigation.7News has reached out to FHP and Miami Fire for information.Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

‘Catastrophic situation’ at Gaza’s main hospital: Doctors Without Borders

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

Medical aid organizations warned on Saturday about the conditions at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s main medical facility. Doctors Without Borders said early Saturday that its staff at the hospital “reported a catastrophic situation inside just a few hours ago,” according to a posting on X. “We’re currently unable to contact any of our staff inside Al-Shifa, and we are extremely concerned about the safety of patients and the medical staff. Patients are still in the hospital, some in critical condition and unable to move,” the humanitarian organization said. The BBC quoted a surgeon at the hospital who said that the main intensive care unit had been hit and that there was no water, food or electricity. A spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the Gaza Strip told Reuters that a baby died in an incubator after the facility lost power, and another was killed by an Israeli shell in intensive care. Robert Mardini, director-general of the In...