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Letters: Transit hikes | Condor impresses | Sanity, civility | Power misused | GOP’s bad move

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Outlying counties can’tafford transit hikesRe: “Funding for transit is ‘at a crossroads’” (Page A1, Oct. 3).The article and the poll of 1,802 people left out important people who were being included in the raising of the tolls introduced by state Sen. Scott Weiner.Those of us who live in Solano County, many of whom earn far less than the people in the polled counties, would have the burden of having two tolls to pay each time they traveled to San Francisco or Marin County. Not only do we need to take a bus (or car) to access BART but we have to pay tolls each time we head to any area of the East Bay. The idea of charging a fee for every mile driven would also be inequitable as those who can afford to live near San Francisco wouldn’t be paying their share.It would be incredibly unfair to put a higher toll or any tax on Solano County.Shoshana NurikBeniciaCondor impresses...

Kurtenbach: Don’t listen to the nerds — Christian McCaffrey is the NFL’s quarter-season MVP

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

Christian McCaffrey has been the most important player in the NFL’s best offense, playing for the NFL’s best team this season.He’s scoring more than a touchdown a game, and he leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage and all-purpose yards. He has nearly 25 percent more yards than the next-best player in his primary yardage category.Who cares if McCaffrey’s a running back? He’s been dominant, and that’s why the Niners’ superstar should be considered the league’s MVP frontrunner a quarter of the way through the campaign.Now, is it a bit early to be talking MVP? Absolutely.But it’s necessary when we’re talking about McCaffrey. He has an uphill climb against history — and, apparently, plenty of naysayers — ahead of him.For the last decade, every NFL MVP has been a quarterback.Only three running backs have won the award since 2000.And MVP is a narrative-driven award.The positive narrative needs to start early for a running back to ...

49ers-Cowboys: Micah Parsons wants to know if Brock Purdy can execute a comeback

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

SANTA CLARA — A generation after Joe Montana launched the 49ers’ dynasty with a fourth-quarter comeback over the Dallas Cowboys in “The Catch” game for the NFC crown, inquiring minds want to know if Brock Purdy can do the same in Sunday night’s regular-season showcase.Well, at least one guy still wants to know: Micah Parsons, who leads the Dallas Cowboys (3-1) up against Purdy and the 49ers (4-0) at Levi’s Stadium.“There are still things we want to see from Purdy, not when Purdy is winning, but when Purdy is down,” Parsons said last month on his Bleacher Report show. “The adversity aspect of the football game is huge, learning how to play from behind, learning how to play situational football.“I’m not saying he can’t do it,” Parsons added. “It’s something we haven’t seen yet.”It’s something Daniel Jones, Zach Wilson and Mac Jones could not do in lopsided losses to Dallas this season for the New York ...

Rodeo boy who drowned in tub may have been abused, neighbors fear

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

RODEO, Calif. (KRON) -- Two people were arrested in connection to a drowning of a two-year-old boy in Rodeo on Monday. KRON4 spoke with neighbors who fear the child may have been abused."It hits me. It gives me chills," said one neighbor who wished not to be named (All of the people we spoke with for this story preferred not to share their names or faces on-camera).Neighbors on California Street in Rodeo feel forever scarred after seeing a 2-year-old boy taken out of an apartment on a stretcher. Toddlers who drowned in San Jose daycare pool identified "It's really heartbreaking. You know, like, an innocent boy," said the same neighbor.On Monday night, the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a call reporting the boy drowned in a bathtub."First they said the boy is still alive. They revived the boy and rushed to the hospital," said the neighbor.The boy was eventually pronounced dead at a hospital. Later, two people were arrested in connection with the chi...

SFUSD workers vote to authorize strike if contract talks fail

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

(BCN) -- A union representing roughly 900 San Francisco public school employees has authorized a strike if current contract negotiations fail. Nearly 100 percent of the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 members voted Tuesday to strike if they can't reach an agreement with the San Francisco Unified School District, according to union officials.The union, which represents classified workers like food service employees, paraeducators and custodians, is asking the district to increase salaries to keep pace with what the city of San Francisco pays for similar jobs, which union officials say is 16 percent to 25 percent higher."The cost of living in San Francisco is so high, it has displaced our members, many of whom are also SFUSD parents, out of the city. Our members are the lowest-paid employees of the district," said SEIU 1021 SFUSD chapter president Rafael Picazo. Toddlers who drowned in San Jose daycare pool identified "Most of our members come from Black, brown, and...

Prosecutors accuse rapper YNW Melly of witness tampering as his murder retrial looms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida prosecutors have charged rapper YNW Melly with witness tampering ahead of his retrial on double murder charges even as his attorneys accused them of conspiring to hide evidence that the lead detective may have lied in a related investigation. Prosecutors charged Melly this week with making sure a key witness didn’t testify at his first murder trial, which ended in July with a hung jury that voted 9-3 for conviction. Jury selection in the retrial of the 24-year-old rapper is set to start next week with opening statements anticipated in early November.Prosecutors said in documents released late Wednesday that Melly is with the Bloods street gang. They say he used phone calls made by other jail inmates at his request and letters passed between them to get messages to Blood members on the streets. Those members successfully made sure a the key witness didn’t testify, prosecutors say. James Benjamin, Melly’s attorney, told The Associ...

Massachusetts shooting claims life of baby delivered after mother was one of several hit by gunfire, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

HOLYOKE, Mass. (AP) — Massachusetts shooting claims life of baby delivered after mother was one of several hit by gunfire, police say.Source

Supporters of US aid to Ukraine are watching the turmoil in the House with growing alarm

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A path for additional U.S. aid to Ukraine appears increasingly fraught after the ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, with many House Republicans opposing help for the war-torn country as they search for a new leader.Tuesday’s historic vote to remove McCarthy as speaker comes at a critical time, with a deadline for funding the government little more than a month away, and as opposition to aiding Ukraine’s defensive war against Russia slowly gains momentum among Republicans in both chambers of Congress. Leaders dropped $6 billion in Ukraine aid from the temporary funding measure passed Saturday as they focused on passing it quickly, just hours before the government would have shut down.Congress will have to figure out by mid-November how to pass another spending bill to keep the government open. Supporters of Ukraine aid — including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who visited the Capitol to plead for the money in person just two weeks ago — say it’s esse...

Oregon officials identify victims of plane crash that killed two after spiraling out of the sky

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon officials have identified the victims who lost their lives after a small plane precipitously dropped out of the sky and crashed through the roof of a home on Tuesday. Police in Newberg, a small city about 25 miles southwest of Portland, said 20-year-old Barrett Bevacqua and 22-year-old Michele Cavallotti were the two victims found dead at the scene. Cavallotti was an instructor at the pilot training school Hillsboro Aero Academy and Bevacqua was a student pilot, police said in a news release.The third passenger, 20-year-old Emily Hurd, was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries.Dramatic video taken Tuesday evening showed the plane rapidly descending straight down toward the ground. The aircraft crashed through the roof of a home with its wreckage strewn partially inside the house and in the backyard, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue said in a news release. Multiple people were inside the home when the crash occurred, but they were able to evacuat...

McCaffrey trade paying big dividends for the 49ers a year later

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:29:32 GMT

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — When the San Francisco 49ers dealt a bevy of draft picks to Carolina last October for Christian McCaffrey, some skeptics asked whether they overpaid for a running back in a passing league.Nearly 12 months later, coach Kyle Shanahan can’t even imagine what life would be like without McCaffrey driving the Niners offense.“No, don’t ever say that,” Shanahan said when asked if he could have imagined not making the deal.The midseason addition of McCaffrey last year immediately transformed the 49ers from a middling offense into one of the most productive.Now with an entire offseason to fully integrate McCaffrey into the system, the Niners offense has gone to an even higher level, scoring at least 30 points in the first four games of the season for the first time in franchise history.McCaffrey is a major reason for the success and is being talked about as being the first non-quarterback to win MVP since Adrian Peterson in 2012. McCaffrey currently is in the ...