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National Guard called in to fight fentanyl crisis in San Francisco

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:09 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- San Francisco is about to receive help from state authorities, including the California National Guard, to combat the city's deadly fentanyl epidemic. Governor Gavin Newsom made a surprise visit Wednesday when he toured the city's drug-plagued Tenderloin neighborhood. On Friday, the governor revealed why.Newsom announced an agreement between the California National Guard, California Highway Patrol, San Francisco Police Department, and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office to assist the city with its ongoing fentanyl crisis. Newsom described fentanyl street drug dealers as "poison peddlers." Gov. Newsom tours Tenderloin amid surge in overdose deaths Between January and March this year, 200 victims died from accidental drug overdoses in San Francisco, according to data released by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Of those deaths, 159 were caused by fentanyl, a highly addictive and cheap synthetic opioid."San Francisco has seen an alarming rise...

San Francisco students rally for Earth Day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:09 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Saturday is Earth Day and Friday morning in San Francisco, students rallied to demand that the State of California do more to confront climate change. Hundreds of students gathered in front of City Hall and in Civic Center Plaza to call on Gov. Gavin Newsom to move the state away from fossil fuels.  Los Gatos Party Mom ‘tore my life apart,’ victim says The rally, organized by Youth vs. Apocalypse, is asking Gov. Newsom to do what he can to move California away from fossil fuels. Their demands include:Limiting new gas and oil extraction permits across the stateDivesting state pension funds from fossil fuelsHolding PG&E accountable for past mistakes. They are also calling on the Biden Administration to change its immigration policy, which they say has a direct connection to climate change. Following the rally at City Hall, the group marched to the nearby state building. 

Grifol calls Hendriks cancer-free news spirit-lifting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:09 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Chicago manager Pedro Grifol welcomed the news that White Sox closer Liam Hendriks is in remission from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.“We’ve all prayed and prayed and prayed for his recovery,” Grifol said before the White Sox played Friday night at the Tampa Bay Rays. “What lifts my spirit is the fact he’s cancer-free. It has nothing to do with baseball. That was the most important thing for me, for us, for this organization, for every single fan. We’re all here, opened arms, waiting for him to get here whenever he’s ready.”Hendriks announced his diagnosis in January and completed his final round of chemotherapy two weeks ago. Hendriks said Thursday he is cancer-free.A three-time All-Star, Hendriks was third in the majors with 37 saves and made his third All-Star team last season. The Australian led the AL with a career-high 38 saves in 2021 after leaving Oakland to sign a $54 million, three-year contract with the White Sox.“Now, it’s just,...

Craig Breedlove, daring land-speed recordholder, dies at 86

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:09 GMT

Craig Breedlove, who set land-speed records by topping 400, 500 and 600 mph in jet-powered cars nicknamed Spirit of America, has died. He was 86.Breedlove died at his home in Rio Vista, California, on April 4. His wife, Yadira Breedlove, said the cause of death was cancer.Breedlove battled Tom Green and Art Arfons on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to set and then break each other’s speed records during the freewheeling 1960s, a golden era of American motorsports. Breedlove’s final speed record was 600.6 mph (966.5 km/h) in 1965.The mark has been topped since, with the current record sitting at 760.3 mph (1,223.6 km/h) — faster than the speed of sound — but Breedlove helped make the land-speed mark a cultural phenomenon beginning in 1963.He was an American hero to some and was even immortalized in the Beach Boys’ song “Spirit of America,” which refers to him as a “daring young man” playing a “dangerous game.”Born March 23, 1937, Breedlove was a firefighter whose childhood love of ...

Phillies remain cautiously optimistic Harper hits May return

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:09 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper was in full Phillies uniform not long after a pregame workout where the two-time NL MVP hit pitching, dove head-first into first base and fielded grounders at first.His change into the home uni did not go unnoticed.“I got to do scoreboard stuff,” Harper said.Harper dashed off to film a series of vignettes to air on Philadelphia’s new scoreboard — and the Phillies slugger is getting closer to seeing his name up there in the starting lineup.But not quite yet.As Harper ramps up what he can do in his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery, optimism has swelled that he can return in May if he’s cleared in his next scheduled checkup early next month. While Harper seems briskly ahead of pace since his November surgery, no one really wants to rush his return since one false move could cause another rupture.“We’re very encouraged about Bryce’s advancement and his rehabilitation, It’s all been going very well but there’s still some very important final s...

Bijan Ghaisar’s family reaches $5M settlement in 2017 US Park Police shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:09 GMT

The family of the unarmed Virginia man shot and killed by U.S. Park Police officers in 2017 after a traffic stop has reached a $5 million settlement with the federal government, according to a court filing in the case.The Washington Post first reported on the filing.Bijan Ghaisar’s mother and father filed the wrongful death lawsuit in 2018, seeking $25 million.The settlement still must be approved by the judge overseeing the case. A hearing has been scheduled for April 28 in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.The settlement calls for about $1.25 million to be paid in attorney’s fees, and $3.75 million to be paid to the family to be distributed to various charities, according to the filing.The settlement likely caps years of legal action related to Ghaisar’s killing.More on the Bijan Ghaisar caseIn 2019, the U.S. Justice Department declined to bring federal charges against the two officers who opened fire on the 25-year-old accountant, arguing there was...

ANÁLISIS | ¿Por qué es tan importante la decisión de la Corte Suprema sobre la píldora para abortar en EE.UU.?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:09 GMT

(CNN) — Este viernes a la medianoche termina el plazo para que la Corte Suprema de EE.UU. tome una decisión en el caso de aborto más importante que ha llegado al alto tribunal desde su decisión de anular el fallo del caso Roe vs. Wade el año pasado.El futuro de un medicamento utilizado ampliamente para interrumpir embarazos está en el centro de la batalla judicial que llegó a la Corte. Sin embargo, lo que está en juego es nada menos que las opciones de atención médica para las mujeres en Estados Unidos e incluso la viabilidad de autorizaciones reglamentarias para medicamentos de rutina.A principios de esta semana, el juez Samuel Alito concedió más tiempo a la Corte Suprema para evaluar la sentencia de un juez de Texas que ordenó bloquear la aprobación de la mifepristona. Y extendió la suspensión temporal a un fallo consecuente de un tribunal de apelaciones, que permitiría mantener la aprobación del medicamento por parte del Gobierno, aunque el acceso podría ser limitado.Depart...

Maine takes railroad to task over cleanup after derailment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:09 GMT

SANDWICH ACADEMY GRANT TOWNSHIP, Maine (AP) — The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is taking Canadian Pacific Kansas City to task over the cleanup following a freight train derailment and fire.Commissioner Melanie Loyzim sent a letter Thursday telling the railroad that its good faith efforts have failed to meet the agency’s expectations with regards to response and timing “to effectively mitigate impacts to the environment and public health.” Two concerns are a failure to move a pair of rail cars containing hazardous material farther away from the site in a timely manner, and the failure to remove diesel fuel from the locomotives’ saddle tanks, causing a diesel fuel spill, the agency said. An estimated 500 gallons (1,895 liters) of fuel spilled.Three locomotive engines and six train cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring went off the tracks Saturday in Somerset County, sending three people to the hospital.Canadian Pacific Kansas City, created by a m...

Kansas governor nixes abortion, anti-diversity budget items

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:09 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed anti-diversity and anti-abortion provisions in Kansas’ next state budget Friday, intensifying a conflict with the Republican-controlled Legislature over culture war issues that could see her scotch a dozen or more conservative initiatives. The governor has the power to excise individual budget items and used it to eliminate $2 million in state tax dollars for anti-abortion centers providing free counseling and pregnancy and parenting services. She’s previously vetoed two bills that would enact anti-abortion policies despite a decisive statewide vote in August 2022 affirming abortion rights.Kelly vetoed a budget provision that would have prevented state universities from using diversity equity and inclusion principles in their hiring. She nixed another provision barring the state board that licenses mental health professionals from requiring them or giving them incentives to undergo training involving diversity or ant...

Bystander officer found guilty in man's 2021 beating

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:09 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A former Aurora police officer was found guilty Friday of failing to intervene when another officer used excessive force.A jury found Francine Martinez guilty of the crime, a Class 1 misdemeanor, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office. The incident happened in 2021, when a responding officer on a call with Martinez strangled and pistol-whipped a man. Bandimere Speedway closing at end of drag racing season “Officers have a duty to intervene in situations like this," Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Sugioka said. “Officer Martinez failed to do anything to de-escalate the situation and stop the assault.”Lawyers for Kyle Vinson, the man hurt in the case, said Friday that they're "heartened" by the verdict."In this case, Officer Martinez had a front-row seat to the brutal assault of Mr. Vinson at the hands of her fellow officer," the statement from the Rathod Mohamedbhai firm reads. "Her failure to protect Mr. Vinson was unconscionable and ...