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Borenstein: The Oakland A’s haven’t announced they’re leaving, county officials bizarrely claim

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

In the latest bizarre twist of the Oakland A’s exodus from the Bay Area, Alameda County officials claim that the team has not yet announced its plans to leave town.The determination allows the A’s to postpone payment on $45 million it owes taxpayers for the team’s purchase of the county’s half-interest in the Coliseum.The Coliseum is co-owned by the city and the county. County supervisors in 2019 agreed to sell the county’s share to the team for a sweetheart price of $85 million.The sale was a horrific deal the county never should have made. It undermined the city’s planning efforts by giving A’s billionaire owner John Fisher veto power over future development of the prime 120-acre property after the team moved out.Now county officials are adding insult to injury by once again coddling up to the team. At issue is whether the A’s are required under the sale terms to immediately make the three final payments.Amazingly, county supervisors never bothered to require that the team s...

Cutting-edge affordable homes could sprout in San Jose on vacant lot

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

SAN JOSE — Well over 100 affordable homes could sprout on a vacant lot in San Jose, a plan that is being floated by a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who hopes to pioneer a cutting-edge approach to housing development.Curtis Wong, chief executive officer and founder of Cloud Apartments, is pitching plans for an affordable housing development at 1265 The Alameda in San Jose, a preliminary proposal on file with city planners shows.Cloud Apartments residential complex, concept. (Cloud Apartments)An estimated 174 affordable units would be built in an apartment building on the empty lot, according to documents posted on the San Jose Planning Department website.Cloud Apartments and Wong are seeking a streamlined city approval process by using provisions in state law SB 330, the city documents show.2165 The Alameda in San Jose, a vacant lot, shown within the outlines. Boundaries are approximate. (Google Maps)The potential development would be built on an empty parcel that total...

49ers mailbag: How many sacks from Bosa vs. Eagles? Is ‘Rocky’ statue a jinx?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Sunday’s NFC matchup between the 49ers (8-3) and the host Eagles (10-1) calls for an extended version of our weekly mailbag after a flood of social media questions:Is it possible for the Niners to get the No. 1 seed? (@thebrendito)It may take “win out” mode, and a veteran starter told me Monday they’ve already adopted that mindset. After all, they won 12 straight last season before their NFC Championship Game trauma in Philly. The 49ers (8-3) are in the No. 2 slot ahead of the Detroit Lions (8-3) by virtue of a better record in NFC games (6-1 vs. 5-2). The Eagles (10-1, 6-0) have a two-game lead, but if they lose their next two to the 49ers and the Cowboys (as one 49er was excited to learn), the 49ers would move into the NFC’s pole position if their win streak remains intact. Losing in Philly would not mathematically eliminate the 49ers from the No. 1 role, but it would make their odds miniscule.We need to get Deebo more touches? (@makrhitesman)His so...

Why hot-handed Moses Moody was pulled in loss to Kings

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

SACRAMENTO — Moses Moody couldn’t remember the last time he missed a shot. That’s because it had been a while.His last miss was last week on a 3-point shot against the Phoenix Suns 10 minutes into the third quarter. In two games since then, Moody has gone 8-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from 3 in 30 combined minutes.His hand couldn’t have been hotter at a better time on Tuesday night: with the Sacramento Kings closing in fast on the Warriors’ 24-point lead in the fourth quarter, Moody was making the Kings’ defense pay for throttling Steph Curry and Klay Thompson from beyond the arc and sunk four open shots in seven minutes to create some separation.Then Andrew Wiggins trotted to the scorers’ table and, in a second, Moody was back on the bench to put his hot hand on ice. The team’s traditional starting five closed the game and lost it, 124-123, on a pair of bad turnovers from Steph Curry and Draymond Green.“We needed to get Wig...

After 49 years, California investigators ID a presumed victim of notorious serial killer Randy Kraft

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

The remains of a young man believed to be among the first victims of Randy Kraft — a notorious 1970s-era serial killer dubbed the “Scorecard Killer” — have been identified through investigative geneaology nearly 50 years after they were discovered in what is now Aliso Viejo, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department announced Tuesday.The John Doe victim, who now has been identified as Cedar Rapids, Iowa, resident Michael Ray Schlicht, was found dead on the side of a freeway in 1974. His death was at first thought to be from accidental alcohol and diazepam intoxication.Many details surrounding John Doe’s death were released to the public at the time in hopes that someone could help to establish his identity. His fingerprint classification was submitted to the Criminal Identification and Investigation Division in Sacramento, the FBI and Canadian authorities with negative results, according to the sheriff’s department.After weeks of unsuccessful efforts to establish his identity, John Doe...

BART paper tickets phased out after Wednesday

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

ORINDA, Calif. (KRON) -- After more than 50 years of using paper tickets to ride on Bay Area Rapid Transit trains, Wednesday is the last day that they can be used as a form of payment. BART is changing all of its gates to only accept Clipper cards starting Thursday.For riders with more than a dollar on a paper ticket, BART is refunding the remaining amount. As of October, BART reportedly refunded about $57,000 to riders. The agency said there is no deadline for requesting a refund. San Francisco police staffing issue goes to voters “This change is occurring as BART begins to roll out new state of the art fare gates, which will not accept paper tickets,” BART officials wrote. “The slot for paper tickets will be covered up.”West Oakland’s BART station will be the first station with new gates installed. More than 700 gates will be installed systemwide by the end of 2025, according to BART officials. The new fare gates will be taller and stronger to prevent fare evaders from hopping o...

San Francisco police staffing issue goes to voters

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

(BCN) -- On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a charter amendment that would fund and require the hiring of new cops. They will put it before voters in March."The proposed measure provides voters with a chance to express whether they desire more police presence," said Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who voted for the measure along with Supervisors Myrna Melgar, Connie Chan, Shamann Walton and Aaron Peskin. It was sponsored by Supervisor Ahsha Safai."We don't have to pass a new tax for this to be meaningful," said Stefani, adding that her goal would be to redirect dollars from existing tax funds, "which I think is very doable."If the voters approve a future tax to supply additional revenue to fund the cost of employing more full duty sworn officers, then the city will set a minimum staffing number for the next five years. That number would begin with 1,700 officers the first year and increase each year until it hits a maximum of 2,074. Sister of accused Bob Lee...

Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen look to clinch top spot in Europa League groups

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

The Europa League and Europa Conference League competitions have reached the next-to-last round of group games.Here are some talking points ahead of Thursday’s matches:WINNING THE GROUPIn the Champions League, winning the group is regarded as important to secure a home match in the second leg of the round of 16. In the Europa League, finishing in first place ensures a team skips a round of games. The eight group winners earn a direct place in the last 16 of the competition whereas finishing in second place only gets a team a playoff match against the clubs who drop into the Europa League as third-place finishers in Champions League groups. This season, that could easily be the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United or Newcastle. Liverpool — the top team in the competition at this stage — could qualify as group winner by beating LASK at home, while Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta will seal first place in their group with wins over Hacken and Sporting, respectively.ISRAEL TEAMS...

Stock market today: Wall St. points higher before the bell, oil prices rise ahead of OPEC meeting

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

Wall Street was poised to open with gains on Wednesday despite a gloomy global economic forecast and oil prices rose ahead of an OPEC meeting later this week.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4% before the bell while futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.5%.A report forecasting that the global economy will slow next year didn’t seem to bother markets, which have flourished in November despite ongoing inflation, elevated interest rates and geopolitical calamities.Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated Wednesday that international growth would slow to 2.7% in 2024 from an expected 2.9% pace this year. That would amount to the slowest calendar-year growth since the pandemic year of 2020.The report said that a key factor in the global slowdown is the expected deceleration of the world’s two biggest economies, the United States and China.Despite the tepid forecast, the organization is “projecting that recessions will be avoided ...

Wolverines threatened with extinction as climate change melts their snowy mountain refuges, US says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The North American wolverine will receive long-delayed federal protections under a Biden administration proposal released Wednesday in response to scientists warning that climate change will likely melt away the rare species’ snowy mountain refuges.Across most of the U.S., wolverines were wiped out by the early 1900s from unregulated trapping and poisoning campaigns. About 300 surviving animals in the contiguous U.S. live in fragmented, isolated groups at high elevations.In the coming decades, warming temperatures are expected to shrink the mountain snowpack wolverines rely on to dig dens where they birth and raise their young.The decision Wednesday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service follows more than two decades of disputes over the risks of climate change, and threats to the long-term survival of the elusive species.The animals resemble a small bear and are the world’s largest species of terrestrial weasels. They are sometimes called “mountain devils” for...