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California Sen. Laphonza Butler makes history as first out LGBTQ Senate Judiciary Committee member

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:58 GMT

By Devan Cole | CNNWashington  — California Sen. Laphonza Butler will fill the Senate Judiciary Committee seat left empty by the passing of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a history-making move that also gives Democrats back their razor-thin control of the powerful committee tasked with vetting federal judicial nominees.Butler, the first known Black lesbian in the Senate, is also the first out LGBTQ member of the Judiciary Committee.California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Butler earlier this month to fill the seat left vacant by Feinstein, a longtime California Democrat who died last month at the age of 90.Since Feinstein’s passing, the committee has been at a 9-9 deadlock between Democrats and Republicans, but with the addition of Butler, the one-member majority will enable them to give a thumbs-up to Biden’s judicial nominees without the help of Republicans on the panel. Those nominees will still need to garner 51 votes in the full Senate to secure confirmation.For Democrats and ...

7 awesome Bay Area things to do this weekend, Oct. 20-22

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:58 GMT

From a new Martin Scorsese movie to Halloween scares and deeeelicious doughnuts, have we got some great weekend ideas for you.Just be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.1 WATCH: Scorsese’s latest Oscar candidateThe world is buzzing over Martin Scorsese’s latest epic film, “Killers of the Family Moon.” Is it worthy of the hype?A Founders Donuts sampler box offers delicious sweets. (Jackie Burrell/Bay Area News Group) 2 DEVOUR: Mmmm…. doughnutsThere’s no such thing as having a bad day when the consumption of doughnuts is part of the itinerary. Especially if those treats hail from one of these 12 amazing shops.3 SEE & SCREAM: Spooky spotsOne of the best things about Halloween season is cat...

Wildcat Canyon Road repair in Contra Costa County will take several years: Roadshow

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:58 GMT

Q: I live in the Berkeley Hills and Wildcat Canyon Road that leads to Orinda has been closed since last winter’s storms. Do you have updates on when that might reopen?Along that same vein, I wasn’t aware that Highway 40 over Donner Pass was closed, but just reopened. Do you know if they plan to keep that open through the winter, when snow allows?Dick McDougaldA: Wildcat Canyon Road is closed in Contra Costa County for a slope failure repair project. More on that in a moment (the short answer is that the road is expected to reopen there in fall 2025).In Berkeley, Wildcat Canyon Road will be closed between Park Hills and Shasta Road from Oct. 20 through Nov. 10. For more information, see the City of Berkeley’s city traffic advisories.As for the larger project on Wildcat Canyon Road, Contra Costa County received notice in mid-September that the project will receive federal funding through the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program, administere...

SF housing advocates push for new construction on existing parking lots

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:58 GMT

(BCN) -- What if the future of affordable housing meant creating "walkable" communities? One advocacy group is pushing for just that, and they are setting their sights on parking lots.TransForm, a Bay Area housing advocacy organization that promotes walkable communities, held a webinar Wednesday to discuss new initiatives. Man killed in Pescadero beach cliff crash identified The webinar, entitled "Parking Revolution/Housing Solution: Bay Area," focused on how a lack of housing and the amount of space parking lots take up in cities are closely linked."We knew having parking would have reduced the number of housing units we could build," said Sam Moss of the Mission Housing Development Corporation, which developed the Kapuso at the Upper Yard affordable housing development in the Mission District in San Francisco."It could be a soul crushing experience trying to convince someone that doesn't want affordable housing to build it," he added, speaking on the difficulties of building in ...

Stock market today: Wall Street is mostly flat as bond yields continue to climb

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:58 GMT

Wall Street isn’t moving much, but a swirl of competing forces are pushing and pulling on markets under the seemingly calm surface. The S&P 500 was flat early Thursday following a mixed set of profit reports and forecasts from Tesla and other influential stocks. The Dow was 9 points higher, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury hit its highest level since 2007 before paring back. Oil prices gave back a chunk of their jump from a day before, which was launched by worries about war in the Middle East.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street edged lower early Thursday as after big U.S. companies delivered mixedprofit reports and Treasury yields added pressure to stocks. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials inched back 0.1% before the bell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury surged to 4.97% early Thursday after topping 4.90% Wednesday for the first time since 2007, just before the...

Russian-American journalist charged in Russia with failing to register as a “foreign agent”

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:58 GMT

A Russian-American journalist working for a U.S. government-funded media company has been detained in Russia and charged with failing to register as a “foreign agent,” according to her employer. Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty editor Alsu Kurmasheva is the second U.S. journalist to be detained in Russia this year. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested for alleged spying in March. Kurmasheva, an editor with RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir service, is being held in a temporary detention center, the Committee to Protect Journalists said, citing a Russian state news agency. The CPJ called the accusations “spurious”, demanding that the Russian authorities drop all the charges and release her immediately. The Tatar-Inform agency posted video which showed Kurmasheva being marched into an administrative building accompanied by four men, two of whom held her arms and wore balaclavas. Tatar-Inform said authorities accused Kurmasheva of collecting information about RussiaR...

Agustín Creevy set to play in Rugby World Cup semifinals at 38. ‘Los Pumas are my life,’ he says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:58 GMT

In one of his first competitive scrums as a hooker, Agustín Creevy fainted.The veiled center of a scrum is no place for beginners, especially in the days when Argentina forwards were schooled in the bajada scrum, where seven men directed their power through the hooker like the tip of an arrow.In late 2008, Creevy was sidelined in Biarritz by a shoulder injury. Argentina coach Santiago Phelan persuaded him to return home to a high-performance center and learn to convert from flanker to hooker.Creevy gained five kilograms (11 pounds) of muscle, and practiced throw-ins at home with a homemade hoop. Baby steps were necessary. His San Luis club played him at hooker and, in one game, a combination of effort and bad technique saw him black out. His first big game at hooker was in March 2009 for Buenos Aires against Tucuman. He came off the bench.By June, he was captain of an Argentina XV at the old Churchill Cup. In November, his first test as a hooker was as a replacement against Scotland...

Russia’s foreign minister offers security talks with North Korea and China as he visits Pyongyang

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:58 GMT

Russia’s foreign minister proposed regular security talks with North Korea and China to deal with what he described as increasing U.S.-led regional military threats, as he met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top diplomat Thursday in Pyongyang. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in North Korea’s capital on Wednesday on a two-day trip expected to focus on how to boost the two countries’ defense ties following a September summit between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.Last week, the United States said North Korea had transferred munitions to Russia to boost its fighting capabilities in Ukraine in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban any weapons trading involving North Korea.On Thursday, Lavrov met Kim for talks that lasted about an hour, Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported, without elaborating. Lavrov met his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, earlier Thursday and lauded deepening bilateral collaborat...

Pfizer fijará el precio del tratamiento contra el COVID-19 por cinco días en $1,390, según CNBC

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:58 GMT

Pfizer fijará el precio de un tratamiento de cinco días de Paxlovid, su fármaco antiviral contra el COVID-19, en $1,390 cuando la empresa comience a realizar la transición al mercado comercial a finales de este año.Un portavoz de la compañía confirmó el miércoles el precio, que fue informado por primera vez por The Wall Street Journal. Ese precio de lista, que es antes de reembolsos y otros descuentos para aseguradoras y administradores de beneficios farmacéuticos, es más del doble de los $529 que el gobierno federal pagó por Paxlovid.El gobierno ha comprado y distribuido Paxlovid al público de forma gratuita desde diciembre de 2021, cuando la FDA autorizó el tratamiento por primera vez. Pero a partir de 2024, Pfizer venderá Paxlovid directamente a las aseguradoras de salud, lo que se produce en un momento en que la demanda de vacunas y tratamientos contra el coronavirus se desploma en todo el país.Médicos, expertos en salud y defensores de los pacientes han expresado su preocupació...

Students and parents rally to demand return of Prince George’s Co. high school principal

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:58 GMT

Students are planning to rally at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Prince George's County, Maryland, on Thursday morning in response to the removal of the school's principal, Gorman Brown. (WTOP/John Domen) Students are planning to rally at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Prince George's County, Maryland, on Thursday morning in response to the removal of the school's principal, Gorman Brown. (WTOP/John Domen) Students are planning to rally at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on Thursday morning in response to the removal of the school’s principal, Gorman Brown.The new superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools had scheduled a town ...