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Latest line: A good week for Caltrain, a bad week for Chemtrade

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:50 GMT

CaltrainCommuter rail service from San Francisco to Gilroy unveils new electric trains to the public, a project in the works since the 1990s that will reduce noise and diesel air pollution, and bring more sleek, modern service for passengers.    ChemtradeRichmond chemical company hit with $1.15 million fine after Bay Area Air Quality Management District says it underreported sulfur dioxide emissions. Six years ago the company paid $135,000 in other air pollution penalties.   Dianne FeinsteinViral video clip seems to show California’s 90-year-old senator confused at a hearing this week. But she’s still in office, continuing to provide the swing vote on the 11-10 Judiciary Committee to approve President Biden’s judges. 

They said it: Not normal treatment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:50 GMT

“I had every alarm going off inside my body.”Former San Jose State University swimmer Caitlin Macky, testifying in the trial of Scott Shaw, the former head athletics trainer who is accused of sexually assaulting more than two dozen female athletes. Shaw is facing six federal civil rights charges for “willfully depriving four female student-athletes of their Constitutional fundamental right to bodily integrity.”

Could this GPS tarmac transmitter be a solution for noisy flight path over SFO?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:50 GMT

For years, neighbors who live along the flight path to San Francisco International Airport have suffered — and complained — about airplane noise. Now the airport is testing a new way to battle the nuisance that is growing worse in many nearby cities: Precision navigation.A powerful GPS transmitter on the airport’s tarmac will guide incoming planes with more accuracy than satellites in the sky alone, so pilots can fly higher over cities or soar out into the Bay, potentially reducing noise over Peninsula communities like Palo Alto and Menlo Park.The $11 million project — the first in the West — improves a plane’s three-dimensional positional accuracy from many hundreds of feet to an exacting 30 to 50 feet.A broadcast transmitter at San Francisco International Airport is part of a new aircraft positioning and landing technology, called the Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS), designed to reduce noise over Peninsula communities.(Photo courtesy of ...

Drivers may see red, but pedestrians come first at busy Highway 101 entrance: Roadshow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:50 GMT

Q: Can you explain why there is a No Right Turn on Red light in the eastbound direction of Mathilda for the northbound Highway 101 entrance?There is no blind spot and I do not understand why cars would not be able to make a right turn during a red light for the northbound Highway 101 entrance. And with cars backing up on Mathilda waiting for the light to turn green and then proceeding onto the northbound Highway 101 entrance, it can become a safety hazard as a long procession of cars builds up to merge onto Highway 101.Greg TsangA: I sent your question to the City of Sunnyvale. The No Right Turn on Red was installed to improve safety for pedestrians and was part of the Mathilda/237/101 interchange project. Since northbound Mathilda traffic cannot make a right turn on red now, motorists have a better view of pedestrians in that area. The city said that while there is additional delay for drivers, they do not see vehicle queues there as being excessive and all right turn traffic clear...

Why California is having its best wildfire season in 25 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:50 GMT

It’s nearly August, but one familiar summer trend has been very scarce this year: wildfires.California is off to its slowest start to fire season in 25 years.A state traumatized by huge fires over the past decade that have burned millions of acres — killing more than 200 people, and generating choking smoke and apocalyptic orange skies — has seen almost no major fire activity so far in 2023.As of Thursday, just 24,229 acres had burned in California since Jan. 1, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. That’s 82% less than the state’s 10-year average and is the lowest of any year since 1998.Only four structures have burned statewide in wildfires so far this year and there have been no fatalities, reports Cal Fire, the state’s main firefighting agency. By comparison, one fire in July 2018, the Carr Fire near Redding, destroyed 1,614 structures and killed eight people, including three firefighters.The reason for the state’s good fortune now, exp...

Canadian McIntosh, 16, secures 2nd swimming worlds gold with win in women’s 400m individual medley

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:50 GMT

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — Summer McIntosh, the 16-year-old Canadian who promises to be a star at next year’s Paris Olympics, won her second gold medal of the World Aquatics Championships on Sunday, taking the women’s 400-meter individual medley in 4 minutes, 27.11 seconds.The victory for McIntosh, the world-record holder in the event, was the second of the worlds after winning the 200 butterfly on Friday. McIntosh seized the lead in the opening leg and won going away, recording the third fastest time in history. American Katie Grimes took the silver in 4:31.41, with Jenna Forrester of Australia picking up the bronze in 4:32.30.McIntosh got off to a slow start at the championships, finishing fourth in the 400 free and getting bronze in the 200 free, before striking gold in her last two individual races.Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden made history with her victory in the women’s 50-meter freestyle. The gold gave Sjostrom 21 medals in individual races in the world championships, surpassing Michae...

Juez bloquea ley de Arkansas que permite acusar a bibliotecarios por dar acceso a ciertos libros

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:50 GMT

Un juez federal bloqueó temporalmente el sábado la aplicación de una ley de Arkansas que habría permitido emitir cargos penales contra bibliotecarios y vendedores de libros por proporcionar materiales “dañinos” a menores. Según reportó The Associated Press, el juez federal Timothy L. Brooks emitió una orden judicial preliminar contra la ley. La medida, firmada por la gobernadora republicana Sarah Huckabee Sanders a principios de este año, tenía pautada entrar en vigencia el 1 de agosto. Johnson & Johnson fracasa por segunda vez para resolver demandas por cáncer en talco Juez federal bloquea nuevas restricciones a solicitantes de asilo del gobierno de Biden Esta ley también habría creado un nuevo proceso para cuestionar qué tipo de libros están disponibles en las bibliotecas y para solicitar que ciertos materiales — como libros relacionados a la comunidad LGBTQ+ — se reubiquen a sectores de las...

Powerful bomb at a political rally in northwest Pakistan kills at least 35 people, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:50 GMT

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — Powerful bomb at a political rally in northwest Pakistan kills at least 35 people, officials say.Source

150 years later, batteaumen are once again bringing life to Scottsville

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:50 GMT

SCOTTSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Two hundred years ago, it was tobacco. The long, flat-bottomed batteau invented to transport the crop down the James River turned Scottsville into one of the biggest port cities in the early 19th-century Virginia.Now, with a 530-person population and a one-block downtown, Scottsville might not look like much to someone passing through. But on the town’s very own stretch of the James River still float the batteaux, although carrying very different cargo.The James River Batteau Company offers both midday and sunset cruises in its batteau, paired with charcuterie boards, local history lessons and live music. Since co-owners Will Smith and Will Cash founded the tour company at spring’s start last year, they’ve been booked just under capacity with tourists from Charlottesville, Richmond, Washington and beyond.“Where I really think the future of tourism in Albemarle County and Charlottesville is the merger of the raw beauty of this area with its unique history,” Sm...

US Republicans need to move beyond Trump, Nikki Haley warns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:41:50 GMT

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Sunday urged GOP voters to leave former President Donald Trump and his legal woes in the rearview.“While I think he was the right president at the right time, you know, earlier and while I think his policies were good, I don’t think he’s the right president at the right time going forward,” Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, said Sunday during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”“I think we’ve got to move forward. Otherwise, we will have a general election that’s doing nothing but dealing with lawsuits.”The former president’s legal troubles have been the topic dominating the Republican primary race, leaving little oxygen left for the cluster of GOP candidates looking to dethrone the runaway front-runner. Four criminal cases are playing out against Trump, two of which have yielded indictments. An indictment in a third, involving the former president’s alleged efforts to stoke the Jan. 6 riot, ...