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Abortion battles going on in US courts, statehouses

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:18:07 GMT

By Kimberlee Kruesi and Geoff Mulvihill | Associated PressAbortion opponents are trying again to implement restrictions in the latest round of court and legislative action on the divisive issue.This round of efforts centers on states that have considered bans before and a policy that’s been bouncing around federal courts.Here are key things to know about the latest developments in the saga of how abortion policy will settle after the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade and the nationwide right to abortion.PURPLE STATE POLICYSince the Dobbs ruling last year, tighter abortion restrictions have been enacted in most Republican-controlled states and protections of abortion access have gone into effect in most that are dominated by Democrats.But there hasn’t been such a uniform story in the 11 states with divided government control. Virginia has kept its status quo, for instance, while Vermont has adopted a constitutional amendment to preserve abortion access a...

Palo Alto: Church pride flag vandalism investigated as hate crime

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:18:07 GMT

PALO ALTO — Police announced Wednesday that the vandalism of a pride flag outside a Palo Alto church Tuesday morning was being investigated as a hate crime.Authorities say they received a report of vandalism at 10:58 a.m. Tuesday at First Lutheran Church at 600 Homer Avenue from a church employee.Investigators found that a pride flag and its mounting bracket had been ripped off the front exterior of the church building by an unknown suspect. The suspect left the flag on the ground and damaged the wall in the process. The investigation revealed that the act took place between May 7 and 11.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Feds: Aryan Brotherhood was behind six California murders, including two separate double homicides Crime and Public Safety | ADL says Elon Musk’s attacks on George Soros ‘will embolden extremists’ Crime and Public Safety | Suspect in deadly 2022 California church shooting indicted on 98 federal counts, including hat...

What to watch: ‘Master Gardner,’ ‘Happy Valley’ worthy, if flawed, finales

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:18:07 GMT

Can the third time really be the charm?At 76, uncompromising filmmaker Paul Schrader wraps up his trilogy on men confronting their pasts. Meanwhile, the third — and sadly final — season of one of TV’s best contemporary crime series — “Happy Valley” — hopes to save the best for last.But as great as they are in considerable ways, each has an issue with sticking the landing.Here’s our roundup.“Master Gardener”: Is it possible that Paul Schrader, the gifted and cranky screenwriter of the seminal “Taxi Driver” and auteur of other gritty downer films, has gone soft on us? You might come away feeling that’s the case after watching this final installment in his unofficially connected trio of features about men wrestling with past deeds and misdeeds. And OK, this isn’t as dark as “First Reformed,” the best film in that three pack. But “Gardener” is an at-times thrilling eyebrow-raiser about the troubled, seemingly mild-mannered horticultu...

Elizabeth Holmes ordered to pay massive restitution over fraud

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:18:07 GMT

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her co-accused and former lover Sunny Balwani were ordered late Tuesday to pay more than $450 million in restitution for defrauding investors.Holmes, the founder and former CEO of the now-defunct Palo Alto blood testing startup, has said in court filings that she “continues to work on ideas for patents” but “has essentially no assets of meaningful value” and “has incurred substantial debt from which she is unlikely to recover.”In his restitution order, Judge Edward Davila, who presided over the trials and convictions of Holmes and Balwani, held the two “jointly and severally liable” for the nearly half-billion-dollar repayment to individuals and entities, because they were both found guilty of conspiring with each other to defraud investors. That means Holmes and Balwani — the former Theranos president who has denied Holmes’ claims he sexually abused and coerced her — are each on the hook for the full amount, ...

Reviews rip Johnny Depp’s big-screen comeback as ‘gone-to-seed’ French king

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:18:07 GMT

Johnny Depp has certainly made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival this week while promoting his big-screen comeback in the French historical drama “Jeanne du Barry,” though it’s being disputed on Twitter whether his standing ovation at the film’s screening was actually seven minutes.But thus far, the reviews of the film are united in saying that the controversial actor’s performance as the French King Louis XV doesn’t live up to the hype surrounding his first appearance in a movie in three years, and not just because he’s not in the movie all that much. The reviews say that Depp is muted or “taciturn” in the role, or that the usually “too busy” and forcibly quirky actor appears uncomfortable in what The Guardian said is still a “spectacular” bit of stunt casting. Reviews also describe Depp’s French as either “respectable” or laughably uneven, while others suggest he either reveals his w...

Single-family house in Saratoga sells for $3.1 million

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:18:07 GMT

20205 Saratoga Vista Court – Google Street ViewA spacious house located in the 20200 block of Saratoga Vista Court in Saratoga has a new owner. The 2,541-square-foot property, built in 1960, was sold on April 28, 2023, for $3,050,000, or $1,200 per square foot. The property features four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a garage, as well as a pool in the backyard and one parking space. The unit sits on an 8,150-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently changed hands nearby:On Beaumont Avenue, Saratoga, in April 2023, a 1,846-square-foot home was sold for $2,965,000, a price per square foot of $1,606. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 2,411-square-foot home on the 20200 block of Glen Brae Drive in Saratoga sold in March 2023, for $4,150,000, a price per square foot of $1,721. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In April 2023, a 2,152-square-foot home on Edinburgh Drive in Saratoga sold for $3,810,000, a price per square foot of $1,770. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bath...

Palo Alto gives the go-ahead to chef José Andrés’ restaurant at Stanford center

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:18:07 GMT

A Stanford Shopping Center restaurant from acclaimed chef José Andrés is back on track again.Under threat of legal action, the city of Palo Alto early Wednesday announced that it would make an exception to the city’s new all-electric policy for new construction. Andrés had threatened to abandon the project if he wasn’t allow to use the already installed gas line for cooking, and attorneys for the Simon Group had vowed to sue if necessary.The city’s decision says, in part:Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | The restaurant chain that officially owns ‘Taco Tuesday’ fights challenge from Taco Bell Restaurants, Food and Drink | Peninsula Restaurant Week runs May 19-27, with dozens of meal deals Restaurants, Food and Drink | Lobster tacos, loaded mac & cheese and other Black Restaurant Week specials Restaurants, Food and Drink | Will renowned chef José Andrés bail on Stanford Shopping Ce...

Northern California’s Lake Oroville, Shasta near-full capacity

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:18:07 GMT

OROVILLE — California when it rains: water cooler talk.Both Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta reported near-full capacity Monday with plenty of snow in the northern mountains anticipated to melt.Shasta Lake reached 1,063 feet elevation on May 1 with four feet of capacity remaining and Lake Oroville reached 890 feet on May 13 with 10 feet left of capacity — each holding steady since.Lake Oroville is at 96% capacity and is expected to be filled into the spring.Boats are parked at the end of Bidwell Canyon Marina and, in the distance on the water of Lake Oroville on Monday, May 15, 2023 in Oroville, California. (Jennie Blevins/Mercury-Register) Oroville last reached capacity in 2017 and in the last 30 years reached capacity in 2017, 2012, 2011, 2006, 2005, 2003, 1998, 1996 and 1993, according to an email from DWR Information Officer Jason Ince.Shasta Recreation Company General Manager Shyann Almazan said all boat ramps are open at Shasta Lake including Antler’s Boat Ramp, Bailey Cove,...

Man kills wrong bear near Yellowstone, faces a year in jail

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:18:07 GMT

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming hunter faces up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted of killing a grizzly bear he allegedly claims he mistook for a legal-to-hunt black bear outside Yellowstone National Park.The dead male grizzly weighing about 530 pounds was reported around 9 a.m. May 1 by several drivers on Highway 14 near the eastern entrance to Yellowstone. The carcass had been left where it fell, about 30 yards from the road and close to a picnic area on the Shoshone River.The bear had been shot at least four times, said an affidavit filed in Park County Circuit Court by game warden Travis Crane.The following day, a man called the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to turn himself in. He reportedly told Crane that he had been confident before shooting that the animal was a black bear and realized his error only when he was able to inspect the carcass.The hunter is a 65-year-old man from the community of Wapiti, between Yellowstone and Cody. He is scheduled to be arrai...

'Death over candy cannot be the way': Group urges SF DA to prosecute guard in Banko Brown killing

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:18:07 GMT

Warning: This story contains graphic videoSAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A group of community members, activists and LGBT leaders held a rally Wednesday urging San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to prosecute a security guard who shot and killed Banko Brown. The group gathered outside Jenkins' office at 10 a.m. Wednesday, demanding the DA bring charges against Michael-Earl Wayne Anthony, a security guard who shot and killed Brown, a 24-year-old trans activist, during a confrontation at a Walgreens on Market Street on April 27. Pride flag that was ripped down at Palo Alto church being investigated as hate crime DA Jenkins' office released surveillance footage of the confrontation that led to Brown's killing this week and confirmed that no charges would be pursued. That decision has sparked outrage among activists and community members.Footage of the confrontation clearly indicates that Brown had already exited the store when he was shot by Anthony. Footage of the co...