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House Republicans attempt to block funding for California High-Speed Rail

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:34 GMT

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is attempting to prevent President Joe Biden from awarding federal grant funding to the California High-Speed Rail Authority.Legislation presented by GOP lawmakers would dramatically cut spending on passenger train programs, including more than a 60% cut to Amtrak, and a direct block of any federal funding to be awarded to California's high-speed rail projects.The California High-Speed Rail Authority is currently awaiting word on a federal grant that would award it around $2.8 billion which it says would allow it to complete the initial operating segment between Merced to Bakersfield, allow for the purchase of six electric trainsets and construct the rail station in Fresno. CAHSR is also seeking a multi-year funding agreement that would result in around $8 billion in grant funds to be allocated for the state's most ambitious public transportation infrastructure project in history. California High-Speed Rail proposes modification to ...

Photos: Grateful Dead’s Bobby Weir and Wolf Bros rock out with Stanford Symphony Orchestra

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:34 GMT

Grateful Dead legend Bobby Weir was joined onstage by an enormous number of people for a two-set show that drew a full house to one of the most beautiful concert settings in all of California.The 76-year-old San Francisco native, who was raised in Atherton and has long called Marin County home, has probably never played a venue in the Bay Area quite like the one on Sunday night at the Frost Amphitheater on the Stanford University campus.Weir was accompanied by his regular Wolf Bros band — with the supersized lineup of Don Was on double bass, Jay Lane on drums, Jeff Chimenti on keyboard and Barry Sless on pedal steel guitar. There was also the Wolfpack, the string and brass quintet of violinist Mads Tolling, cellist Alex Kelly, trumpeter Brian Switzer, trombonist Adam Theis and multi-instrumentalist Sheldon Brown.Surrounding Weir and his Wolf men on three sides was the mammoth Stanford Symphony Orchestra, the acclaimed collegiate orchestra featuring a membership of 115 undergraduate ...

Biden’s new executive order on AI expected to boost Silicon Valley

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:34 GMT

A lengthy executive order on artificial intelligence signed Monday by President Joe Biden is expected to give a big boost to AI development in Silicon Valley.Bay Area experts say the guidelines and government oversight promised in the order, a whopping 20,000-word document, will lend confidence to significant numbers of potential business customers who have not yet embraced the technology, which Silicon Valley companies have been furiously developing.Organizations of virtually every kind have been “kicking the tires” on the technology but are holding off on adoption over safety and security concerns, and revenue from the sale of AI technology has been low, said Chon Tang, a venture capitalist and general partner at SkyDeck, UC Berkeley’s startup accelerator. Confidence instilled by the president’s order will likely change that, Tang said.“You’re really going to see hospitals and banks and insurance companies and corporates of every kind saying, ‘O...

Samurai sword beheading trial begins in San Mateo County

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:34 GMT

(KRON) -- The murder trial of Jose “Rafa” Solano Landaeta began in a San Mateo County courtroom on Monday afternoon. The 34-year-old Hayward man is accused of beheading his ex-girlfriend, Karina Castro, with a samurai sword outside her San Carlos home on September 8, 2022.Judge Lisa Novak will preside over the high-profile trial. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, and prosecutors said it will take at least three days to go through the jury pool. Opening arguments are slated to be delivered on November 6. Landaeta has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He was remained behind bars ever since the grisly attack. Castro had a restraining order against Landaeta at the time of her death. Karina Castro (Images via Facebook) Castro was a 27-year-old mother of two daughters. Landaeta is the father of Castro's youngest daughter. The daughters were inside their mother's apartment when Landaeta confronted Castro outside on Laurel Street, investigators said. There w...

Cleveland Guardians interview Brewers manager Craig Counsell for open job, AP source says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:34 GMT

CLEVELAND (AP) — Craig Counsell’s place in Cleveland baseball history is as World Series villain.He could become something more appealing.Counsell, who has led the Milwaukee Brewers to the playoffs five times in the past six seasons, met Monday with the Guardians about their managerial opening, a person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press.The 53-year-old Counsell spent most of the day at Progressive Field for his interview with the Guardians, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team is not making its search public.Counsell’s contract with Milwaukee is set to expire this week, but the Brewers are allowing him to look elsewhere while also hoping they can re-sign the coveted manager. The New York Mets are also reportedly interested in Counsell and have far more money to offer him than either the small-market Brewers or Guardians.Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio has said on multiple occasions the team wants Counsell back ...

‘Recipe for tragedy’: DC mayor responds to killing of teen during attempted carjacking

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:34 GMT

Police in D.C. are looking for another person tied to the carjacking that resulted in the shooting death of a 13-year-old in Penn Quarter on Saturday night.“Guns, carjackings, 13-year-olds: recipe for tragedy, and that’s what we have,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said during a news conference Monday.D.C. police released a photo of the other suspect Monday night and the department is offering a reward of up to $10,000 to anyone with information that leads to an arrest and conviction.D.C. police detectives are searching for a second suspect involved in an attempted carjacking who was captured by a surveillance camera and can be seen in the photo above. (Courtesy Metropolitan Police Department)Officers responded to the 600 block of D Street Northwest around 10 p.m. Saturday night for a reported shooting. Vernard Toney Jr., of Southeast, D.C., was found shot and was taken to the hospital, where he died.Police said an off-duty federal security officer was sitting in his ca...

Egypt-born “Slim” Shady El Nahas claims Canada’s only judo gold so far at the Pan American Games

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:34 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Shady El Nahas, the Egypt-born Canadian heavyweight judoka, likes to be called “Slim.” Just like rapper Eminem, who inspires his nickname, the athlete also likes to speak his mind. The 25-year-old El Nahas on Monday won the only judo gold medal for Canada so far at the Pan American Games. The final day of judo competition is Tuesday.Asked what his plan was to defeat Chile’s Thomas Briceño — and the home crowd — in the final, El Nahas was straight forward.“Beat him up,” the judoca said. “No, I am joking. I knew the crowd was going to be against me. But I used that as motivation and I wanted to play smart.”El Nahas, who arrived in Chile saying he was injured after a taking the bronze medal at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam last week, won by a match-ending ippon. He finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics, and looked ready for a better finish next year in Paris.Despite getting some insults from the fans during the final, the Canadian left the room under applause aft...

¿Por qué falta combustible en Argentina?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:34 GMT

(CNN) –– Las largas filas de autos en las estaciones de servicio a la espera de gasolina suman cinco días en muchos lugares de Argentina. En algunos casos, la venta del combustible está racionada. El ministro de Economía y candidato presidencial, Sergio Massa, responsabilizó a las empresas petroleras e indicó que retienen stock “por especulación”. Desde el sector empresarial responden que no hay combustible.Autos varados en medio de la ruta, otros estacionados en sitios poco habituales y larguísimas filas en las estaciones de servicio son imágenes cada vez más comunes desde el jueves. La falta de gasolina afectó al consumo minorista, aunque el mayorista también sintió el impacto. La Federación Argentina de Entidades Empresarias del Autotransporte de Cargas (Fadeeac) advirtió el viernes en un comunicado sobre un “creciente desabastecimiento de combustible”.La Fadeeac agregó que esta crisis “impacta de modo directo en la productividad y rentabilidad” del transporte de cargas “y por en...

Saints gratified by first true offensive outburst of the Derek Carr era

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:34 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Maybe Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints’ offense have turned a corner — or merely looked good against another struggling team. Whatever the case, the Saints returned home from a 38-27 victory at Indianapolis feeling a lot better about themselves and what’s ahead in their final nine games.“Any time you win in this league it breeds some confidence in your group,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said Monday. “That was good to see. And all that being said, that one’s over and now we’ve got to go on to the next one.”New Orleans (4-4) will head into that next game tied atop the anemic NFC South, even with Atlanta (4-4) and a half game ahead of Tampa Bay (3-4).And offensive leaders sounded more than a little validated after their unit produced five touchdowns for the first time all season after a series of high-profile red zone failures in previous weeks.“Even though the whole world was falling down, I was like, ‘Inside our building, we are getting better...

‘This is a crisis’: Montgomery Co. panel explores juvenile crime, possible actions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:51:34 GMT

Bomb threats, carjackings, gun offenses. While juvenile crime on the whole in Maryland is below pre-pandemic levels, the numbers for particular offenses are “off the charts,” according to Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.Montgomery County Council members on the Public Safety Committee were briefed on the issue Monday. According to information provided to them, juvenile carjackings in the state jumped by 85% and handgun violations were up 220% between 2021 and 2023.Last week, a high school student was found with a firearm at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda. On the same day, students at Fairland Elementary School found a gun in a trash can on campus.Also last week, a 12-year-old was found responsible for seven bomb threats directed at Montgomery County schools. A 15-year-old was found responsible for a bomb threat directed at Paint Branch High School on Thursday.“Thousands of people were impacted by the conduct of two people,” Counc...