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Letters: Not about race | Today’s citizens | Pricey and bad | Escaping methane | Biden economy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:45 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Barbecue spat aboutenvironment, not raceRe: “BBQ Beck notoriety continues to resonate” (Page A1, July 4).This issue is a fraud.Mr. Smith knew that using a charcoal grill in that area was prohibited by the city of Oakland because of the noxious fumes generated by petroleum-based charcoal briquets and lighter fluid. He could have used a propane grill but decided that the rules didn’t apply to him. He chose to make the argument that expecting him to obey the rules had to do with his race and not his air-polluting behavior.He’s not George Floyd, he’s an attention-seeker wrapping himself in the serious issue of racial discrimination. Shame on the East Bay Times for perpetuating this fraud.Patricia CoffeyOrindaToday’s citizensshouldn’t pay for slaveryRe: “Harvard admissions policy favors children of university alumni, says an activist group” (Page A1, July ...

Liberals, conservatives self-sorting into red, blue states

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:45 GMT

By Nicholas Riccardi | Associated PressSTAR, Idaho — Once he and his wife, Jennifer, moved to a Boise suburb last year, Tim Kohl could finally express himself.Kohl did what the couple never dared at their previous house outside Los Angeles — the newly-retired Los Angeles police officer flew a U.S. flag and a Thin Blue Line banner representing law enforcement outside his house.“We were scared to put it up,” Jennifer Kohl acknowledged. But the Kohls knew they had moved to the right place when neighbors complimented him on the display.Leah Dean is on the opposite end of the political spectrum, but she knows how the Kohls feel. In Texas, Dean had been scared to fly an abortion rights banner outside her house. Around the time the Kohls were house-hunting in Idaho, she and her partner found a place in Denver, where their LGBTQ+ pride flag flies above the banner in front of their house that proclaims “Abortion access is a community responsibility.”“One thing w...

Oakland police dealt new blow in efforts to end federal oversight

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:45 GMT

OAKLAND — The long, fraught journey taken by the Oakland Police Department to extricate itself from federal oversight may once again be hitting a snag after the latest federal report found additional shortcomings in the department’s ability to police itself.This time, the core takeaways — a flawed internal affairs probe and a technical hang-up caused by a city police auditor’s resignation — aren’t as severe as those brought to light by a recent misconduct and cover-up scandal that led to the firing in February of the former police chief.But the report’s findings do make it less likely that Judge William Orrick will lift the department’s court-mandated oversight, which has lasted two decades since the infamous Riders brutality cases, at the next hearing on the issue in September.“Interim Chief (Darren) Allison has done a commendable job in the daily operations and administration of the Department,” states the report, compile...

Study: Nearly half of US tap water has ‘forever chemicals’ in it

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:45 GMT

By Jen Christensen | CNNAlmost half of the tap water in the US is contaminated with chemicals known as “forever chemicals,” according to a new study from the US Geological Survey.The number of people drinking contaminated water may be even higher than what the study found, however, because the researchers weren’t able to test for all of these per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, chemicals that are considered dangerous to human health.PFAS are a family of ubiquitous synthetic chemicals that linger in the environment and the human body. PFAS exposure is linked to problems like cancer, obesity, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, decreased fertility, liver damage and hormone suppression, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.In June 2022, based on the latest science, the EPA issued health advisories that said the chemicals are much more hazardous to human health than scientists originally thought and are probably more dangerous even at levels thousands of ti...

Letters: Cancel culture | Tax implications | Reparations floodgates | Climate fight | Oversee mercenaries

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:45 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Professor’s claim ofcancel culture falls flatRe: “Settlement will allow professor to resign” (Page A1, June 27).I’m confused by Professor Elizabeth Weiss’ use of “cancel culture” as the reason for public outrage over her “privileged ownership” display of an ancestral indigenous person’s skull likely excavated from a sacred grave site.This woman thought she had the right to continue to display White ownership of another culture’s property without apology. A 21st Century anthropologist should know better. But for some still clinging to the claim that continues to demean another culture that experienced American genocide simply isn’t enough.She chose to continue the historical practice of archeological race supremacy. So whose culture does she think the public is canceling: White supremacy? White ownership? White storytelling about cultures that are not their own?Help us learn the paramete...

SF Starbucks workers join union effort

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:45 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Workers at a Starbucks location in San Francisco's Inner Sunset neighborhood filed a petition to unionize on Wednesday. The workers at the store, which is located at 744 Irving Street, filed with the National Labor Relations Board to unionize with Starbucks Workers United, according to a press release.The employees at the Irving location join over 8,000 Starbucks baristas nationwide who have launched an effort to leverage unions for improved working conditions, better pay and consistent schedules. 3 SF pizza spots named top 50 best in US, according to new ranking "Economic inequality is at a peak right now, and working people are being forced to fight for the life we deserve," said SF barista Atakan Deviren. "We as workers are making all the money for these billion-dollar companies, and we're not seeing any of it. We need an end to the disrespect we get from management, and we need consistent, adequate hours and a living wage."According to the press release...

Community organizes buyout of Oakland donut shop after robbery

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:45 GMT

(KRON) -- Oakland community members showed up on Wednesday to support a beloved local business weeks after it was robbed. Colonial Donuts, located at 3318 Lakeshore Avenue, was robbed at gunpoint on June 23. Three suspects entered the store, and one of them pointed a gun at a cashier at about 12:50 a.m. before taking cash from the register. Suspect arrested in Levi’s Stadium stabbing In the wake of the chilling robbery, community members showed up on Wednesday with the intent of buying out the entire store. "I'm very shocked and humbled that a couple of neighbors in the neighborhood, who actually I heard never met before, organized something like this," said Phing Yamamoto, who works at the store. Bear Silber is one of those neighbors. He said he heard about the robbery and wanted to show that the community has the store's back. "Sometimes when you get broken into or you have some crime like that, it can feel like you're all alone and you're being attacked, and we just wanted to ...

Fire in San Jose causes 'heavy traffic' on Hwy 101

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:45 GMT

(KRON) -- A brush fire that broke out on Highway 101 at 13th Street caused heavy traffic on the southbound lanes Wednesday afternoon, the San Jose Fire Department tweeted. Officials first tweeted about the fire at 1:54 p.m. and then tweeted the fire was under control by 2:21 p.m. Napa grass fire causes evacuation orders, threatens structures The fire caused the right southbound lane to be temporarily blocked, according to 511. Traffic on the southbound lanes of Hwy 101 near I-880 was also affected. As of 3:30 p.m., all southbound lanes have reopened. SJFD posted photos of the scene (below). (San Jose Fire Department)(San Jose Fire Department) (San Jose Fire 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%; }The cause of the fire is unknown ...

After 2 fighting eagles got stuck together, Minnesota deputies separated them

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:45 GMT

SHINGOBEE BAY, Minn. (AP) — Two scrappy eagles are free to resume their apparent long-running dispute after quick-thinking deputies helped separate the brawling pair that had become entangled with each other in a Minnesota lake.Cass County deputies John Murray and Todd Wolter were on Leech Lake Monday when they found two adult eagles struggling in the water, ensnarled by both their wings and talons.“We were just patrolling the lake and saw them flopping in the water,” Wolter said. The deputies used a pole to disconnect the massive, angry birds. Eventually, they separated and made their way to shore.“They rested a few minutes then walked up a hill,” Murray said. “I’m guessing once they dried off, they took off.”Sheriff Bryan Welk said people who live along the lake had reported seeing the same two eagles fighting in the air over a nest several times. Welk said it’s common for eagles to get territorial, but far less common for them to get stuck together.Source

Carlo Ancelotti will coach Brazil at Copa America next year says confederation chairman

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:45 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian soccer confederation chairman Ednaldo Rodrigues said Wednesday that Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will be in charge of the national team at next year’s Copa America. Ancelotti has still not publicly confirmed any deal with the five-time World Cup champions. Brazil has never had a full-time foreign coach in charge of its national team. But the internal pressure to do so increased after Tite, hailed by many as the best Brazilian coach in the last decade, failed to deliver in the last two editions of the World Cup.Rodrigues spoke to journalists after he introduced Fernando Diniz as the new Brazil coach until July next year in a news conference which featured several questions over the future role of Ancelotti. “He will be, he will be. You can be sure of that,” Rodrigues said after being asked whether he had an agreement with Ancelotti to be the Brazil coach at the 2024 edition of Copa America. The 64-year-old Italian coach has a contract with M...