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Just how bad is air pollution in the Bay Area?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:05:00 GMT

(KRON) -- California is home to some of the cities with the worst air pollution in the nation, according to the latest State of the Air report from the American Lung Association. "Millions of Americans are still breathing unhealthy air," the ALA says. More than one in three Americans currently live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution, the report states. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now KRON4 Breaking News SIGN UP NOW The report lays out two types of air pollution: particle pollution and ozone pollution. Particle pollution is a mixture of tiny bits of solids and liquids in the air that we breathe. Ozone pollution, often referred to as smog, is a result of pollutants "cooking" together in the sunlight and chemically reacting to form ozone. Sometimes thi...

Bail denied for Palo Alto rape suspect

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:05:00 GMT

(KRON) -- A Florida man was charged with sexually assaulting a woman who was walking through a pedestrian tunnel in a popular area of Palo Alto in the middle of the day.Daniel Widyanto Condronimpino, 34, knocked the victim down, strangled her, and sexually assaulted her as she tried to call out for help April 9, Santa Clara County prosecutors said. "The violent attack, just yards away from a busy commercial street, was interrupted by a passerby. Condronimpino was arrested two days later by police in Berkeley, where he is suspected to have assaulted other women," prosecutors wrote. "Thanks to the quick and decisive actions of the witnesses and police here and across the Bay, this dangerous and violent criminal is off the streets,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Now my office will try to make sure he stays off of them."Condronimpino was arraigned April 13 in the Hall of Justice in San Jose on six felony charges. A judge ordered Condronimpino to be remanded and escorted back to ja...

The marijuana industry has too much pot. Could interstate trade help?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:05:00 GMT

TUMWATER, Wash. (AP) — The email went out to legal cannabis growers around Washington state. Another of their colleagues had gone under.“Liquidation sale,” it said. Attached was a spreadsheet of items for sale: LED grow lights for $500 apiece. Rotary evaporators for hash oil, $10,000.Across the Columbia River in Oregon, where the state’s top marijuana regulator recently warned of an “existential crisis” in the industry, it’s an open secret some licensed growers have funneled product to the out-of-state black market just to stay afloat.California’s “Apple store of weed,” MedMen, is teetering with millions in unpaid bills, while the Canadian cannabis company Curaleaf has shuttered cultivation operations in California, Oregon and Colorado. 4/20 events Bay Area: Where to celebrate the high holiday Along the West Coast, producers face what many call the failed economics of legal pot. There is vast supply, thanks to great growing conditions and a wealth of expertise, but any surplus rem...

Who’s Paying Fox’s $787.5 Million Settlement With Dominion? You Are!

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:05:00 GMT

Fox News just agreed to settle Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against it for $787.5 million. That sounds like a lot of money until you understand Fox’s principal source of revenue: Tens of millions of people who rarely or never watch it but are forced to pay a lot of money for it anyway.Understanding this requires a quick look at the economics of cable TV news.Before cable, we got TV news from the news divisions of the entertainment channels CBS, NBC, and ABC. They put on a few hours of news at most per day, their 30-minute broadcasts each night plus maybe Nightline or something like that. Those shows had ads, but they generally didn’t cover the cost of production, so the ad revenue from the networks’ sitcoms and other shows had to subsidize the programming about reality.Cable and satellite TV made possible the advent of 24-hour news channels, and while they made money from advertising, they also received what are called carriage fees from each subscriber. Cable or satellite provider...

House passes bill to overturn DC police accountability law

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:05:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House approved a resolution Wednesday that would block a District of Columbia police accountability bill, further escalating the feud over the right to self-government in the nation’s capital.The House voted 229-189 on the measure — called a disapproval resolution — marking the third time this year that House Republicans have sought to overturn local D.C. legislation, with some Democratic help, claiming officials have been soft on crime in the midst of a multi-year spike. But the bill is unlikely to advance in the Democratic-led Senate, and President Joe Biden has promised a veto.Republicans pressed ahead, saying congressional scrutiny of the District’s laws is long overdue.“Just because Congress has not been fulfilling this role in recent decades is not a reason to avoid this responsibility now, especially when we know the nation’s capital city is plunging into a crime crisis,” Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Oversight C...

2-time US hockey Olympic defender Megan Bozek retires

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:05:00 GMT

Two-time United States women’s hockey Olympian Megan Bozek announced her retirement on Wednesday.The 32-year-old defender from Buffalo Grove, Illinois, won silver medals at the 2014 Sochi and 2022 Beijing Winter Games. Bozek also won four gold medals in six world championship tournament appearances, ending with a silver-medal finish in 2022.Bozek made her national team debut in 2007 in the Under-18 Series, and finished her career with 17 goals and 41 assists for 58 points in 111 games.“I retire knowing I left everything I could out on the ice every time I laced up my skates,” Bozek said in a statement released by USA Hockey. “Playing alongside some of my best friends and role models, all who’ve been valuable members of helping grow the game of hockey, has been something truly special.”Bozek’s retirement comes with the U.S. developing a young core of defenders, including Caroline Harvey, Cayla Barnes, Rory Guilday and 19-year-old Haley Winn. At 20, Harvey had a tournament-leading 14 ...

Juventus awaits verdict in appeal of 15-point penalty

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:05:00 GMT

ROME (AP) — Juventus and the rest of Serie A will have to wait until Thursday at the earliest for the verdict of the Bianconeri’s appeal against a 15-point penalty for false accounting.Italy’s highest sports court adjourned on Wednesday evening after a three-hour hearing without announcing a decision, although it seems increasingly likely Juventus will be given the points back pending another trial.That would lift Juventus from seventh to third in Serie A and right in the mix for a spot in next season’s Champions League.Prosecutors have asked for the matter to be sent to a different court for a new trial, which would see Juventus handed the points back at least temporarily. Juventus wants the case thrown out completely.The storied Italian club was hit with the massive penalty in January while several members of its former board were also handed bans from soccer activities, including former president Andrea Agnelli.Juventus denied wrongdoing and appealed to Italy’s highest spor...

As US sports bets boom, internet gambling is slow to expand

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:05:00 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — While two-thirds of the country now offers legal sports betting, only six states offer online casino gambling, confounding industry hopes that the rapid growth of sports betting would also bring internet casino wagering along with it.Speaking Wednesday at the East Coast Gaming Congress in Atlantic City, industry executives and legislators from gambling states offered various explanations for why internet gambling has yet to expand beyond a handful of eastern states.Internet gambling is legal in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia; Nevada offers online poker but not casino games.By contrast, 33 states plus Washington, D.C. offer legal sports betting.“It’s a mystery to me why we have 30 or so states that have sports wagering, and only six that allow I-gaming,” said Lloyd Levenson, an attorney who represents many Atlantic City casino companies. “You have to scratch your head as to why.”Shawn Fluharty, the minority...

Judge: House GOP can question ex-prosecutor about Trump case

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:05:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge will let House Republicans question a former Manhattan prosecutor about the criminal case against former President Donald Trump, ruling Wednesday that there is no legal basis to block the House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena.U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil rejected Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s request for a temporary restraining order and injunction, finding that committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, issued the subpoena to former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz with valid legislative purpose.Vyskocil, a Trump appointee, issued the ruling hours after a hearing in which she peppered lawyers on both sides with questions, asking them to parse thorny issues of sovereignty, separation of powers and Congressional oversight arising from the historic indictment.Acknowledging the “political dogfights” surrounding the case, the judge said in her ruling that she “does not endorse either side’s agenda.” She encouraged both sides to spea...

Charismatic Betis captain Joaquín Sánchez set to retire

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:05:00 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Charismatic Real Betis captain Joaquín Sánchez announced Wednesday he will retire at the end of the season.The 41-year-old midfielder, known just as much for his comic vein as for his well-rounded game, announced his decision through a video posted on social media.He said it was finally time to “hang up my boots, my art.”Carrying a playful demeanor throughout his career, Joaquín will retire after 23 seasons, most of them with boyhood club Betis. He also played for Málaga, Valencia and Fiorentina in Italy.Joaquín needs to play in eight of Betis’ final nine Spanish league matches to break the record of most league appearances, a mark currently held by former Spain and Barcelona goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, who played 622 league games. Joaquín sits on 615.Joaquín had contemplated retiring last season but eventually returned for a final year after Betis won the Copa del Rey.He also helped Betis win the Copa title in 2005 and was with Valencia when it won the Copa i...