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‘That’s not who we are’: Gov. Newsom starts tour to boost red-state Democrats

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:49 GMT

By ADAM BEAM | Associated PressSACRAMENTO  — California Gov. Gavin Newsom dropped $10 million on a new political action committee Thursday, pledging to boost Democrats in the reddest of red states ahead of the 2024 election and what could be a future run for president.Newsom launched the Campaign for Democracy using money left over from his 2022 campaign for governor, where he easily won reelection against a little-known Republican opponent. In a video announcing the committee, Newsom pledged to take on “authoritarian leaders” he says are “directly attacking our freedoms,” including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.“What’s happening in those red states?” Newsom asked. “That’s not who we are. It’s un-American. It’s un-democratic.”Newsom blamed those governors for banning books and targeting transgender children. Republicans, meanwhile, have criticized Newsom for using taxpayer money to pay for women in other states to come to ...

Opinion: Will Silicon Valley Bank honor $9 billion promise to low-income Californians?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:49 GMT

Since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the banking industry, federal regulators and the U.S. government have coalesced in an impressive show of solidarity to “shore up the banking system.”Eleven of the nation’s biggest banks came together to provide a $30 billion rescue of beleaguered First Republic Bank. Meanwhile, two of the nation’s largest banks, JPMorgan and Citi, agreed to not poach staff or business from stressed regional and community banks.While this has been an impressive recognition that the fate of our banking system is indeed interdependent, it’s been less clear whether such solidarity will be extended to those who are further from wealth and influence.Of special concern to us: Whether First Citizens Bank, which purchased SVB at a discount of $16.5 billion, will honor a previously negotiated community benefits agreement that promised $11 billion — $9 billion earmarked for California — for the financial and economic infrastructure of largely low-income communities of...

Bay Area News Group girls high school athlete of the week: Sami Bianchi, Wilcox softball

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:49 GMT

Wilcox softball player Sami Bianchi has been named the Bay Area News Group’s girls high school athlete of the week for March 20-25 after she received 35.79% of the vote at the 5 p.m. deadline Wednesday.Gilroy softball player Xochitl Garcia (32.58%) placed second and Carondelet track and field standout Brianna Meredith finished third.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Bianchi made the most of her one hit against Mountain View, sending the ball over the wall for her first home run of the season. The two-run blast helped Wilcox secure a 10-6 victory.To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email [email protected] by Monday, April 3, at 11 a.m. Please include stats and team results.We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches/team statisticians for consideration.Winners are announced each Friday on the Mercury News & East Bay Times websites and, starting Sept. 30, in the print edition of the Mercury News and EB Tim...

Opinion: Listen to educators to create thriving schools in California

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:49 GMT

For the first time in a decade, California schools are staring down a drop in funding. In January, Gov. Gavin Newsom released his proposed budget, projecting $1.5 billion below last year’s school funding. And that proposal assumes there won’t be a recession, which many consider a possibility.At the same time, California schools are also staring down a rise in hardship. The pandemic’s impact on student learning was severe. Its effect on the youth mental health crisis made matters worse. And it wasn’t kind to those staffing schools, whose best efforts collided with untenable shortages.It’s a moment in time where California’s candle is burning from both ends. It’s a moment we cannot meet with stop-gap solutions. We have to think systemically.To do so, we should consider solutions that focus on creating thriving schools and communities for years to come.One of those solutions is to uplift those who know what it’s like to work in schools — those who have been educators — to b...

Most states get an ‘F’ on gun laws this year in new analysis by advocacy group

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:49 GMT

Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf | CNNMost US states get a failing grade on gun laws, according to a new scorecard published by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.The group, which advocates for stricter gun laws as a way to save lives, gave What Matters a first look at the new analysis.The key point is that more permissive gun laws equal more gun deaths in US states:Of the 10 states with the highest proportion of gun deaths per 100,000 people in 2021, all got failing grades — an F — from Giffords, except New Mexico, which got a C+.Of the 10 states with the lowest proportion of gun deaths per 100,000 people in 2021, all got passing grades except New Hampshire.The recent shooting at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, has only intensified discussion of how society can cut down on gun deaths.Multiple states are moving in the direction of making laws even more lax:That includes Tennessee, where hundreds of protesters entered the state capitol Thursday. Lawm...

SJPOA executive accused of dealing fentanyl due in court

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:49 GMT

The San Jose Police Officer's Association executive director accused of importing and distributing fentanyl is due in court Friday. This will be the first court appearance for the 64-year-old woman in question, who could face up to 20 years.The feds say suspect Joanne Segovia allegedly spent almost a decade of her career at the San Jose Police Officer's Association dealing drugs from around the world using the associations office and computer.Segovia is allegedly at the center of an international drug shipments case facing drug charges for importing and exporting opioids like fentanyl across the Bay Area and the country.She has been the executive director for the San Jose Officer's Association since 2003.The feds say she has been getting packages filled with thousands of illegal of narcotic pills from places like Hong Kong, Hungary and India since 2015 at an average around seven packages a year totaling 61 packages.Where were they being shipped to and distributed from? Her home in S...

ContraFect: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:49 GMT

YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) — YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) — ContraFect Corp. (CFRX) on Friday reported a loss of $9.8 million in its fourth quarter.The Yonkers, New York-based company said it had a loss of $16.14 per share.For the year, the company reported that its loss widened to $65.2 million, or $124.97 per share.The company’s shares closed at $2.19. A year ago, they were trading at $292.80._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CFRX at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CFRXSource

Haaland a doubt for Man City’s match against Liverpool

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:49 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Erling Haaland is a doubt for Manchester City’s match against Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday as the striker recovers from a groin injury.The 22-year-old Haaland withdrew from the Norway squad for its European Championship qualifiers against Spain and Georgia during the international break. His father, Alf-Inge, was quoted by Norwegian TV saying his son had traveled to Barcelona for treatment.City manager Pep Guardiola said Friday he would make a decision on Haaland’s availability after the team’s final training session.The team will definitely be without England winger Phil Foden, who underwent appendix surgery last weekend.Guardiola said doctors told him that Foden would be out for “two-to-three weeks.”Haaland’s fitness is more important, given he has scored 28 goals in the Premier League and 42 in all competitions during a prolific first season in English soccer.City is second in the league, eight points behind Arsenal but with a game in han...

Former Bank of China chairman investigated by graft agency

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:49 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A former chairman of Bank of China Ltd., one of the country’s four major state-owned lenders, is under investigation by the ruling Communist Party’s anti-corruption agency, state TV reported Friday, adding to a string of high-level financial figures ensnared in a marathon crackdown.Liu Liange, who also is a former party secretary of the bank, is suspected of “serious disciplinary violations,” China Central Television said on its website. The one-sentence report gave no details of the allegations against Liu.Figures including bank executives, a deputy central bank governor and a former insurance regulator have been caught up in the crackdown led by Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The campaign is popular with the public and has allowed Xi to sideline political rivals.The former head of a state-owned asset management company was put to death in 2021 on charges of taking bribes. Others have been sentenced to long prison terms.Source

Palm weaving workshops join faith, culture for Palm Sunday

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:22:49 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As new volunteers kept streaming into the Church of the Incarnation, Reynaldo Hidalgo prepped fresh palm fronds for them to weave into elaborate designs that will be blessed at services on Palm Sunday, the start of Christianity’s holiest week. “It’s to give welcome to the king, our Lord Jesus Christ,” said Hidalgo, who has led traditional Mexican palm weaving workshops here for half a dozen years, along with his wife. “We wanted to keep a memory of this tradition.”Many Christians around the world will be getting blessed palm or other tree branches this weekend, in commemoration of Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, when the Gospel narrates that crowds spread branches on the road before him.At Hidalgo’s Catholic church, and others across the country where parishioners observe the Easter traditions of many Latin American and European countries, the fronds are woven and braided into intricate designs of up to several feet, often decorated with rosettes, r...