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Letters: Bad choice | Health care | Don’t blame Trump | Wage gap

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:45:27 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Orinda forced into badchoice on housingA front-page story (“Cities struggle to balance state’s housing orders with wildfire risks,” March 20) implies, incorrectly, that Orinda had to choose between safe wildfire evacuation and compliance with the state mandates for affordable and other housing.In fact, the central flaw in Orinda’s EIR is, as mentioned in the article, that it failed to consider alternative distributions of new housing that would have reduced congestion at known “chokepoints.” I provided Orinda with a spreadsheet showing that a different distribution of new housing, with less new housing downtown, would have reduced congestion and also met the state mandates for affordable and other housing.Unfortunately, the City Council had allowed its staff to box the council into a corner, by not allowing a decision until the deadline, leaving the city with a Hobson’s Choice of missing the deadline to ...

Suspects cased Macy’s in downtown Walnut Creek for a year before brazen $92k Rolex smash and grab, police say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:45:27 GMT

WALNUT CREEK — A 20-year-old Vallejo man has been charged in connection with a 2022 smash and grab in a Walnut Creek mall where three suspects made off with $92,285 worth of Rolex watches.The charges filed March 2 include one count of second-degree robbery, one count of grand theft and one count of burglary. Police arrested another suspect last year, a 19-year-old Vallejo man, and are still working to identify a third suspect in the June 18, 2022 incident.A judge issued a warrant for the 20-year-old man’s arrest on March 6. Jail and court records indicate he has not yet been arrested or appeared in court.Last week, 19-year-old Jamonni Simon pleaded no contest to second-degree burglary in connection with the same incident. He was sentenced to 180 days on house arrest and two years probation, records show.On June 18, 2022, three men, two of them wearing masks, used hammers to smash display cases and steal five Rolex watches from the Macy’s on Broadway Plaza in Walnut...

As peril swirls around Trump, DeSantis steps up attacks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:45:27 GMT

By Steve Contorno | CNNFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis has stylized himself as a political brawler willing to take on all comers, from Disney and the corporate media to high school students wearing masks.But his brewing battle with Donald Trump was for months a one-sided affair.That changed this week when DeSantis for the first time leaned into the burgeoning rivalry in earnest. In public remarks, DeSantis goaded the former president’s legal troubles and invited comparisons between their leadership style and character. He doubled down by granting a lengthy interview to Piers Morgan, a noted Trump supporter-turned-critic, and didn’t push back as the British television host assailed the former president as untruthful and intensely jealous of his one-time ally’s political success.The two laughed over Trump’s attempts to nickname DeSantis.“You can call me whatever you want,” DeSantis said in an excerpt of the interview published in the New York Post, “...

Landlords fail to shout down Oakland’s eviction moratorium at raucous meeting

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:45:27 GMT

OAKLAND — Despite a protest by unhappy property owners that briefly halted an Oakland City Council meeting Tuesday, the city is not yet willing to end its moratorium on evictions.The landlords and their allies created an uproar Tuesday when Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas announced that the council had no plans on its agenda to discuss ending the pandemic-era protections.Their shouting grew so disruptive that Bas, the council president, asked security to begin escorting the rowdiest participants out of the chamber.Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said an email had previously circulated among landlords falsely suggesting that a discussion of the moratorium was on the council’s agenda.Before the meeting, protesters outside City Hall demanded an end to the ban — enacted by cities and counties across the Bay Area in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent tenants who couldn’t pay rent from being kicked out of their homes.“It’s been three year...

Brandon Crawford returns to SF Giants’ lineup, on track for Opening Day

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:45:27 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The loudest cheers in the Giants’ spring stadium Wednesday afternoon came a few minutes before first pitch, in response to a few words that hadn’t been heard in almost two weeks. “Your starting shortstop,” the stadium speakers boomed, “Brandon Crawford.”Crawford, 36, returned to the position he is expected to assume on Opening Day, one week from Thursday, for the first time since March 10. After being shut down with inflammation in his left knee, Crawford has maintained that he would be ready to make his 12th consecutive Opening Day start at shortstop, and he showed no signs Wednesday that he wouldn’t be ready to go at Yankee Stadium on March 30.Crawford reached base in both his trips to plate, but it was his defensive work that was the true test for his knee. It’s the side-to-side and stop-and-go movements while making plays at shortstop when the discomfort flares up most, he said.“I got a couple pretty good ...

Santa Clara standout Brandin Podziemski declares for NBA Draft

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:45:27 GMT

Santa Clara could be sending a player to the NBA Draft for the second consecutive year.Sophomore standout Brandin Podziemski, the University of Illinois transfer whose unexpected emergence earned him West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Year honors alongside Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, announced on Wednesday that he was declaring for the NBA Draft while maintaining his collegiate eligibility.Podziemski is expected by pundits, including Sports Illustrated, to be a late-first or early-second round pick.“This past year has been filled with the best experiences of my life both on and off the court… I’m excited to get to work to prepare for this next challenge,” he said in a Twitter post. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard is known for his sweet left-handed shot, slick passing abilities and a knack for being in the right spot at the right time. He led the WCC in rebounding with 8.8 boards per game this year. He also averaged 19.9 points and 3.7 assists, making him one of three players in Division I...

Letters: Health care | Cut goalie | ‘Minimum sentence’ | Good cops, bad cops | Government essential

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:45:27 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Bill must focus onmore than mental healthRe: “Billions for psychiatric treatment proposed” (Page A1, March 20).In response to the governor’s proposal to spend billions of dollars on psychiatric treatment, it’s good to see a correction of Ronald Reagan’s destruction of the mental health system and the elimination of the vast majority of psychiatric beds in 1980.But it would be better to legislate the prevention of party politics attempting to interfere with or defund necessary health care funding like this, so we are not in a cycle of progressive care for people rather than regressive care based on political fears (Reagan didn’t believe mental illness existed) and classist forms of cruelty. We must constantly work to be better and do better, not worse.The treatment modalities of this bill must include equitable input from all mental health professionals, not just psychiatrists, to be effective...

Walnut Creek police search for suspect linked to multiple burglaries

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:45:27 GMT

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KRON) -- Authorities are looking for a suspect linked to multiple burglaries in Walnut Creek, the Walnut Creek Police Department (WCPD) said in a Facebook post. Surveillance footage (above) obtained by WCPD shows the suspect with a tattoo sleeve on his left arm and a black hat.The suspect is wanted for questioning after the department investigated multiple burglaries in the past six months on the 2400 block of Buena Vista Avenue. More photos of the suspect can be viewed below. VIDEO: Mountain lion spotted in Los Gatos, tranquilized at backyard of home (Walnut Creek Police Department)(Walnut Creek Police Department)KRON On is streaming news live now.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }If you recognize this individual, WCPD says to contact Detective S...

Towns returns for Timberwolves after missing 51 games

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:45:27 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns is set to return Wednesday night for the Minnesota Timberwolves after missing 51 games with a right calf strain.Towns, the three-time All-Star, has been out since Nov. 28. Towns was averaging 20.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 21 games before the injury.“Expectations are that he just kind of settles into the flow of the game, not try to do too much at this point in time,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said before the Timberwolves hosted the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. “Most importantly, knock the rust off. Certainly want him to be himself but not at the expense of what we’re trying to do out there. And I think that’s pretty easy ask for him.”Finch said Towns will have limitations but didn’t offer specifics.Anthony Edwards will miss his third straight game with a right ankle sprain, and backup point guard Jordan McLaughlin won’t play due to illness.The experiment of mixing Towns and newcomer Rudy Gobert...

Women’s Champions League: Chelsea beats Lyon, Wolfsburg wins

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:45:27 GMT

LYON, France (AP) — Lyon’s chances of a seventh Women’s Champions League title in eight years were hit by losing 1-0 to Chelsea in the first leg of the quarterfinals on Wednesday.Guro Reiten’s winner — a curling strike in the 28th minute — puts Chelsea in control against the defending champions heading into the second leg next week at Stamford Bridge.Since 2016, Lyon only once has failed to win the competition — in 2021, when the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals by French rival Paris Saint-Germain.PSG, which has never won the Champions League, lost 1-0 to Wolfsburg in Wednesday’s other quarterfinal first leg.Delphine Cascarino hit the post for Lyon in the second half but the eight-time champions couldn’t find the equalizer at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais.The Norway international’s goal was set up by Erin Cuthbert, who fought off Ellie Carpenter in midfield before delivering a pass into the area for Reiten’s one-timer.Chelsea has never won the tournamen...