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Letters: Supply and demand | Combatants’ start | UN must act | Upside-down | Unequal justice | E-cigarettes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:32 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Supply and demanddoesn’t work in Bay AreaRe: “High housing costs making California more undesirable, RAND economist says” (Sept. 27).The Rand expert, Jason Ward, is wrong. The supply and demand model doesn’t work for Bay Area housing. The supply is high-rise, market-rate housing; the demand is housing for working people with low incomes. Property owners would rather have vacant apartments taking a tax loss than lower the rent.Increased market-rate supply has not and will not lower rents. They will never be “affordable” to those camping in the street. Affordable in the Bay Area is for people making $100,000 a year, based on a county’s median household income.Margot SmithBerkeleyIn conflict, both sidesstarted as childrenI have so much compassion for both the Israelis and Palestinians, the hostages and all of the children who are victims in the Middle East. I even h...

Meadows reportedly received immunity to testify

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:32 GMT

By Holmes Lybrand and Hannah Rabinowitz | CNNDonald Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was granted immunity by special counsel Jack Smith and has met with federal prosecutors multiple times in their investigation into the efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, according to a report from ABC News.Meadows told investigators he did not believe the election was stolen and that Trump was being “dishonest” in claiming victory shortly after polls closed in 2020, according to ABC.Meadows met with Smith’s team at least three times this year, ABC reported, and prosecutors were focused on his conversations with Trump following the election defeat.The agreement is the first publicly known in the special counsel’s investigation into the events around January 6.While the exact terms of Meadows’ deal with prosecutors are not clear, similar deals traditionally allow a person with knowledge about an ongoing investigation immunity from prosecution if they cooperate fully with i...

Letters: South Bay | Acts of evil | Hamas surrender | Low-income programs | Chance to govern | Do right

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:32 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Networks should showoff the South BayWhy is it that whenever there is an event at Levi’s Stadium or SAP Center, national media shows “interest shots” of San Francisco while commenting that the event is about an hour south?Yes, the Golden Gate and cable cars are picturesque, but how much would it take to get shots of natural beauty (Big Basin, Hakone Gardens, Filoli, etc.) or historic/architectural interest (Winchester Mystery House, Mission Santa Clara, Stanford University, Lick Observatory, etc.) from the actual South Bay? There are more than enough options to choose from.I call on South Bay media to help our national media find scenes more representative of the South Bay. Let’s show the nation that the South Bay has something to offer.Beth RobieCupertinoHeartless evilmalignantly magnifiedWe in America are cursed with the occasional deadly mass shooter. Every person of good conscience is horrified...

Berkeley police looking for woman who was licked by suspect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:32 GMT

(KRON) -- The Berkeley Police Department is looking for an unknown female victim who police say was picked up and licked by a man last week. The woman was at the intersection of Oxford Street and Center Street on Oct. 16 at around 1:20 p.m. ‘I’m not OK’: Moments before off-duty pilot allegedly tried to bring down plane revealed in court docs According to police, the woman was approached from behind by a man who picked her up off the ground and licked her "from their neck to their eye." The suspect reportedly refused to let go of the woman and began walking away with her.A bystander intervened, allowing the victim to get away. She fled the area before police could contact her. The suspect in the incident has since been arrested on other pending charges.Berkeley PD is asking for the public's help in locating the victim.

Second pedestrian this month struck and killed by Amtrak train in Berkeley

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:32 GMT

(KRON) -- For the second time this month, a pedestrian has been struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Berkeley, according to Amtrak. At 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, Amtrak train 529 from Auburn was on its way to San Jose when a person trespassing on the track was struck by the train. Bay Area pilot charged with attempting to murder 83 people on plane There were 77 passengers onboard at the time and none were reported injured. The train resumed its journey shortly before noon. Earlier this month, on Oct. 4, the Berkeley Police Department received a report of a collision involving a person and a train in the area of Harrison Street and the tracks. Arriving at the scene, officers discovered a deceased person who had been struck by an Amtrak train, Berkely PD said.

California cities named among 'least safe' nationwide, study says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:32 GMT

Whether it be protection from crime, dangerous weather, or financial instability, safety is a top concern for many when finding a new city to call home.WalletHub, a personal finance company, updated its “Safest Cities in America” list by comparing 182 cities in the U.S. across 41 safety-related metrics. Some of the metrics used in the study included the number of mass shootings, assaults per capita and traffic fatalities.The 41 safety metrics were compiled into three categories: home and community safety, natural disaster risk and financial safety. They were graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the “safest” city. These California cities named as the ‘safest’ for trick-or-treating, study says Cities from the Golden State ranked low on the list.  The highest-ranked California city on the list was Irvine in Orange County, earning the 33rd spot and scoring 79.86 overall. The city of Fremont, which was ranked 17th last year, went down to 49th place in the updated stu...

Tom Emmer withdraws bid for House speaker hours after winning nomination, leaving new cycle of chaos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Tom Emmer abruptly abandoned his bid to become House speaker Tuesday, withdrawing within hours of winning the internal party nomination after Donald Trump objected and hardliners refused to support him for the gavel.Emmer becomes the third House Republican to fall short in what has become an almost absurd cycle of political infighting since Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as GOP factions jockey for power. Refusing to unify, far-right members won’t accept a more traditional speaker and more moderate members don’t want a hardliner. Three weeks on, the Republicans are frittering away their majority status — a maddening embarrassment to some, democracy in action to others, but not at all how the House is expected to function.“Pretty sad commentary on governance right now,” said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark. “Maybe on the fourth or fifth or sixth or 10th try we’ll get this thing right.”Emmer briskly left the building where he had been meeting priva...

Quarterback Josh Allen says his new ‘low positive’ approach might be behind Bills sluggish starts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:32 GMT

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — With so many chiming in on why the Buffalo Bills offense has been so sluggish of late, and blame being placed on everything and everyone from jet lag to coordinator Ken Dorsey, quarterback Josh Allen came up with a reason of his own on Tuesday.It just might be him.Revealing he made the conscious decision last month to keep his emotions in check — “low positive,” the quarterback called it — following a season-opening dud and Week 2 domination, Allen wondered whether he’s reined himself in too much.“I’ve been trying to find a zone where I get myself into throughout the game to try to stay as low as possible, because I feel like I perform better that way,” Allen said.“If I could limit myself and my energy and my heart rate, I felt like I could maybe think a little bit more,” he added. “But, who knows, maybe I need to think a little bit less and play football.”While Allen has no intention of returning to his reckless, defender-hurdling, squeezing passes into do...

Louis Vuitton returns to America’s Cup as title partner and challenger series sponsor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:32 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Luxury goods brand Louis Vuitton is returning to the America’s Cup in 2024 in Barcelona as both title partner and sponsor of the challenger selection series known as the Louis Vuitton Cup.Louis Vuitton sat out the 2021 America’s Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, when the challenger series was known as the Prada Cup. Emirates Team New Zealand defended the America’s Cup in home waters against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team of Italy and then decided to stage the next defense in Barcelona, saying the move was necessary for its financial survival.The Louis Vuitton Cup was awarded to the challenger selection series winner from 1983 to 2007.The five challengers who will compete for the Louis Vuitton Cup and the right to face Team New Zealand in the 37th America’s Cup match are Ineos Britannia, Alinghi Red Bull Racing of Switzerland, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, the New York Yacht Club’s American Magic and Orient Express Racing of France.The overall competition will run from ...

Shooting of off-duty Housing Authority officer in Northeast DC closes stretch of New York Avenue

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:32 GMT

An off-duty D.C. Housing Authority officer has been shot in Northeast, and the ensuing police investigation has closed a stretch of New York Avenue.Police said it happened on New York Avenue near the intersection with Montana Avenue. A “secondary scene” involved in the shooting is located a short distance away in the 1600 block of Walt Lincoln Way NE in the Ivy City neighborhood, according to police.The officer is conscious and breathing, police said.Police said they are looking for a silver two-door Honda Accord with Maryland tags and heavily tinted windows, which was last seen on New York Avenue going toward Montana Avenue.Both inbound and outbound lanes of New York Avenue were closed Tuesday evening between Montana Avenue and Bladensburg, leading to jammed traffic on a key route in and out of D.C.While police were investigating the shooting on the inbound lanes, a car caught on fire in the outbound lanes, the WTOP Traffic Center reported.“So lots of hurdles to c...