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Bay Area volleyball mentor pleads guilty in player abuse case

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:09:02 GMT

A volleyball coach accused of slapping a teenage player at a sports program in Marin pleaded guilty Tuesday to a child abuse charge.Konrad Ott, a co-founder of the Absolute Volleyball Club in San Rafael, admitted to a misdemeanor count of inflicting unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering on a child. Ott, a 52-year-old Petaluma resident, was not required to attend the hearing in Marin County Superior Court, and his lawyer entered the plea on his behalf.The maximum sentence under the plea agreement is four years of probation, said Judge Roy Chernus, reading the offer sheet from the bench. Chernus set the sentencing for May 15.The victim, Grace Hodges of Novato, said she approves of the outcome, even without a potential jail sentence. She said the fact there was a criminal investigation should make Ott understand that he needs to change.“It is a relief to know he’s not going to be back in the club having the same impact on other girls that he did on me,” said Hodges, 17, a sen...

Court rules California charter cities can implement sugary drink tax without penalty

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:09:02 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — In a ruling at the end of March, the California Third District Court of Appeals found that charter cities such as Santa Cruz cannot be financially penalized by the state for lawfully implementing a sugary drink tax, or soda tax, on residents.“The appellate court ruling means that cities across California can once again enact public health policies like sugary drink taxes without fear of financial ruin,” said Santa Cruz City Councilmember Martine Watkins, who was a plaintiff in the case. “We’re now one step closer to more California residents being able to reap the benefits of these types of policies.”In early June 2018, a 1.5-cent-per-ounce sugary drink tax ballot initiative, championed by Watkins and others, had been approved by the Santa Cruz City Council to go to a vote by city residents that November, but the initiative was brought to an abrupt halt when then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Keep Groceries Affordable Act into law June 2018, months before the election.The...

California carjacking suspect lands in hospital after driver fights him off

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:09:02 GMT

A driver won a struggle with a carjacking suspect in Hemet on Monday, April 10, when the driver yanked the intruder out of his truck and the man fell flat on his face, police said.The victim had parked his truck in the 3000 block of W. Florida Avenue just before 3 p.m. and entered a business with a woman remaining in the front passenger seat, said Alan Reyes, a Police Department spokesman.  The suspect, a man, entered the truck and spoke with the woman before grabbing her arm as she attempted to flee.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | California auctioneer agrees to plead guilty in Basquiat artwork fraud scheme Crime and Public Safety | A woman caught on video allegedly punching and slapping a child faces abuse charges Crime and Public Safety | Suspect in Palo Alto daytime sexual assault arrested by UC Berkeley police Crime and Public Safety | 5 Peninsula cops will not face charges in fatal shooting Crime and Pub...

Bill requiring California schools to tell parents if child is transgender denied committee hearing

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:09:02 GMT

A Republican effort requiring California schools to tell parents if their child is transgender came to a halt in an Assembly committee Monday, April 10.Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, who chairs the Education Committee, announced he would not schedule a hearing on AB 1314, which would give schools three days to notify parents in writing once a school employee learns a student is identifying as a gender that doesn’t align with their birth certificate or other official records.The bill, sponsored by GOP Assemblymember Bill Essayli of western Riverside County and Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City, faced opposition from LGBTQ advocates who warned it could harm transgender youths whose parents aren’t accepting of their gender identity.Muratsuchi said in a news release he wouldn’t set a hearing “not only because the bill is proposing bad policy, but also because a hearing would potentially provide a forum for increasingly hateful rhetoric targeting LGBTQ yo...

Horoscopes April 12, 2023: Saoirse Ronan, time is on your side

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:09:02 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Saoirse Ronan, 29; Claire Danes, 44; David Letterman, 76; Ed O’Neill, 77.Claire Danes (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) Happy Birthday: Incorporate practicality into your daily routine to avoid costly mistakes. Opportunities are plentiful this year, but making decisions is more complicated. Don’t feel you have to act fast. Time is on your side and will give you the perspective you need to determine how to harness success. Slow down, gather facts and head in the direction that has the best chance of delivering your long-term plans. Your numbers are 9, 14, 23, 26, 31, 34, 42.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take a moment to dismiss emotional angst. You are better off channeling your energy into something constructive if you intend to avoid disagreements with someone who matters to you. Send a positive message if you want others to pitch in and help. 2 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): A curious mind will make an effort to learn, explore and us...

Word Game: April 12, 2023

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:09:02 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — TIMOROUS (TIMOROUS: TIM-uh-rus: Fearful; timid.)Average mark 28 wordsTime limit 40 minutesCan you find 37 or more words in TIMOROUS? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD — DOVECOTES deet devote does dose dote dove dovecote vest veto vote cede code coed cooed coot cost cote cove covet teed toed scoot scot sect seed soot steed stood stoveTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at [email protected].

U.S. Counterterrorism Efforts Destabilizing African Nations

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:09:02 GMT

Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped a historic tour of Africa last week, where she positioned the U.S. as a reliable and trustworthy security and economic partner. This week on Intercepted, host Murtaza Hussain is joined by investigative reporter, Nick Turse, to discuss his latest reporting on U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Africa. Since the war on terror was launched, the U.S. government’s ventures in Africa have been more focused on military aid than economic support. Harris’s trip comes after a decade of China investing in infrastructure and critical resource mining throughout the continent and the administration’s concerns over the growing influence of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group. But America’s 20-plus years of counterterrorism support in the region hasn’t resulted in better security. In that time, terrorist groups have risen and U.S.-trained African officers have attempted at least nine coups, eight of which were successful. Hussain and Turse discuss the impact of U.S...

Uzbek militants escape from detention in Indonesia; 2 dead

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:09:02 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Three suspected Uzbek militants escaped from an immigration detention center in Indonesia’s capital after fatally stabbing an officer and seriously injuring four others, police said Wednesday.Two were later recaptured and the third drowned in a canal while being pursued by police, said Aswin Siregar, operations chief of the elite counterterrorism police group known as Densus 88.The three men were among four Uzbek nationals detained by Densus 88 on March 24 following a tip from Uzbekistan’s state security service that they were believed to be members of the al-Qaida-linked militant group Khatiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, Siregar said.He said they arrived in Indonesia from Turkey in February and authorities detected that they were spreading propaganda and recruiting followers on social media. They were detained and held in an immigration detention center in western Jakarta while awaiting deportation proceedings.Three of men broke through the ceiling of their deten...

Apogee Enterprises: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:09:02 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Apogee Enterprises Inc. (APOG) on Wednesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $20.2 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.The Minneapolis-based company said it had profit of 91 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for pretax gains, were 86 cents per share.The glass products company posted revenue of $344.1 million in the period.For the year, the company reported profit of $104.1 million, or $4.64 per share. Revenue was reported as $1.44 billion.Apogee Enterprises expects full-year earnings to be $3.90 to $4.25 per share.Apogee Enterprises shares have dropped almost 5% since the beginning of the year. The stock has decreased 3% in the last 12 months._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on APOG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/APOGSource

ANÁLISIS | Las imágenes de la cámara corporal de Louisville muestran la realidad trágica y brutal de la policía en Estados Unidos

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:09:02 GMT

(CNN) — Esto es lo que significa servir y proteger a las personas en un país inundado de armas.Las desgarradoras, pero aleccionadoras imágenes de la cámara corporal de dos agentes de Louisville, Kentucky, que intervinieron en el tiroteo de este lunes, muestran las demandas que se imponen a los policías que responden a los tiroteos masivos que proliferan en Estados Unidos y el terrible precio que pueden pagar.El video de lo que es efectivamente una batalla callejera más parecida a una zona de guerra en el extranjero que a una ciudad de EE.UU. con el sol de la mañana, ofrece un antídoto visceral contra el encogimiento de hombros colectivo que a menudo ocurre después a las masacres en el país.Esta es una escena cruda y aterradora, mezclada con coraje y heroísmo. Ofrece una revisión de la realidad sobre lo que se desarrolla en momentos de terror y deja, vacíos en comparación, los rituales políticos regulares posteriores a la masacre de “pensamientos y oraciones” y llam...