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Small group of protesters disrupts Drag Story Hour at Los Gatos Library

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:38 GMT

Around 50 kids and their parents listened to Drag Queen Rexy read stories and lead songs at the Los Gatos Library Thursday morning for the library’s inaugural Drag Story Hour.The story hour was the library’s most well-attended event of the summer, and attendees were left mostly undeterred by the small group of anti-trans protesters who disrupted the end of the program.A man entered the library with two signs, one that read “Trans — It’s not all it’s cut up to be” and another with a news article taped on it with the words “taxpayers” and “drag queen.” Library staff started singing “Baby Shark” to distract the kids while they asked the man to leave. He resisted, and families were escorted through the back exit of the children’s reading room.Police arrived on the scene promptly, and Rexy was escorted out of the building by library staff. Two other people joined in the man’s protest outside the building.Anti-trans protest...

60 smuggled people found working in ‘horrible’ conditions at illegal Central Valley marijuana plant

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:38 GMT

MERCED — Dozens of people who apparently were smuggled into the United States were found working and living in “horrible” conditions at an illegal marijuana plant in California’s Central Valley, authorities said Thursday.Deputies served a search warrant Wednesday afternoon at a site on unincorporated land near the city of Merced and discovered the operation. Images posted online by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office showed trays, bags and boxes stuffed with what looked to be marijuana in a run-down interior space.“We literally have thousands of pounds of finished marijuana from an illegal grow and illegal source,” Sheriff Vern Warnke said in a video.Deputies found 60 people working there including men and women who were offered various unspecified resources, plus one juvenile, who was seen by child welfare authorities and released to a parent, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.“Our investigators learned that these individuals arrived at the property several days prior with th...

49ers can breathe easy: Brock Purdy looked ready to go in first practice

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:38 GMT

SANTA CLARA — All eyes were on Brock Purdy Thursday as the 49ers quarterback went through his warmup throws.There were fans in the stands, a sizable media contingent and even a news helicopter hovering over Levi’s Stadium and the adjacent practice complex.OK, it’s possible the helicopter was there to advance the upcoming Taylor Swift concerts and the crowd in the stadium parking lot was there for advance merchandise sales.But the simple act of seeing Purdy throw a football in public for the first time since his right elbow was shredded on Jan. 29 early in a 31-7 NFC Championship Game road loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was a significant moment for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.Even Purdy, a matter-of-fact emotional flatliner in media settings, had a case of butterflies at the mere thought of breaking the huddle with his teammates.“Last night was like Christmas,” Purdy said. “You’re excited for the next day.”Anyone who saw up clos...

Here’s one precision driving test that many drivers couldn’t pass: Roadshow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:38 GMT

Q: Decades ago I had to pass a Navy base driver exam to drive my own car on the base. We started with a week of classes about proper driving techniques and driving hazards.Then came the actual driving tests. We were given a number of points for each test, such as 10 points for parallel parking. We lost a point for each time we reversed direction beyond three times and one for every 6 inches we parked beyond 6 inches from the curb. We needed at least seven points to pass the test.Other skills were similarly tested, such as initiating braking from 30 mph 30 yards from a white line and stopping with your bumper over the line, and zigzagging between pylons both forward and backward. All tests had to be passed to get a base license.I’ve always felt all drivers should have to pass such a rigorous driver exam. Think about how many lives that would save!Walter D’Ardenne, CupertinoA: I’m impressed, and if you retained all those skills, you must be a very good driver. It’s clear t...

2.3 magnitude: Taylor Swift fans cause record-breaking seismic activity during Seattle shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:38 GMT

By Jillian Sykes and Alli Rosenbloom | CNNTaylor Swift fans are in their record-breaking era.After two nights of earth-shaking dancing at Swift’s Seattle “Eras” tour concert at Lumen Field, enthusiastic Swifties caused seismic activity equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake, according to seismologist Jackie Caplan-Auerbach.The “Swift Quake” has been compared to the 2011 “Beast Quake,” when Seattle Seahawks fans erupted after an impressive touchdown by running back Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch. The ensuing celebration was detected on the same local seismometer as the Swift concert, Caplan-Auerbach told CNN.Taylor Swift is pictured performing the ‘Eras’ tour in Seattle in July.(Mat Hayward/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management) Caplan-Auerbach, who works as a geology professor at Western Washington University, saw the comparison in a Pacific Northwest earthquake group she moderates on Facebook and immediately got to work.“I grabbed the data from both nights of...

Stock market today: Wall Street resumes its rally after encouraging reports on inflation and profits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:38 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is back to climbing following more encouraging profit reports and the latest signal that inflation is loosening its chokehold on the economy. The S&P 500 was 0.7% higher in early trading Friday. The Dow was up 207, or 0.6%, after breaking a 13-day winning streak a day before. The Nasdaq composite was up 1.1%. Stocks have been rallying recently on hopes high inflation is cooling enough to get the Federal Reserve to stop hiking interest rates. A report on Friday said the inflation measure the Fed prefers to use slowed by a touch more than expected last month. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.BANGKOK (AP) — Shares in Europe and Asia were mixed on Friday after the Bank of Japan adjusted its bond purchase policy but kept its negative benchmark interest rate unchanged. Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Sydney fell while Hong Kong, London and Shanghai advanced. U.S. futures rose and oil prices fell. Japan’s central bank opted to kee...

F1 team Alpine parts ways with team prinicipal Otmar Szafnauer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:38 GMT

The Alpine Formula One team will part ways with team principal Otmar Szafnauer by mutual agreement following this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.Alpine said in a statement Friday that Bruno Famin, who is the vice president of Alpine Motorsports, will assume the role of interim team principal following Sunday’s race.“The team would like to thank Otmar for his hard work over the past 18 months and for leading the team in achieving fourth place in the 2022 constructors’ championship,” Alpine said.The decision comes amid a restructuring at Alpine, with sporting director Alan Permane leaving by mutual agreement and Pat Fry joining the Williams team as its chief technical officer.The shakeup comes with Alpine in a disappointing sixth place in the constructors’ championship and one week after drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly both went out of the Hungarian GP following a crash on Lap 1.Alpine also lost star driver Fernando Alonso after he made a switch to join Aston Mar...

Yandex: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:38 GMT

SCHIPHOL, Netherlands (AP) — SCHIPHOL, Netherlands (AP) — Yandex NV (YNDX) on Thursday reported net income of $163.5 million in its second quarter.On a per-share basis, the Schiphol, Netherlands-based company said it had net income of 44 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to 30 cents per share.The Russian search engine posted revenue of $2.1 billion in the period._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on YNDX at https://www.zacks.com/ap/YNDXSource

Qin Haiyang and Mollie O’Callaghan complete sweeps at the swimming world championships

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:38 GMT

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — Qin Haiyang and Mollie O’Callaghan completed their sweeps on Friday at the swimming world championships.Qin set a world record while winning the men’s 200-meter breaststroke in 2 minutes, 5.48 seconds. The 24-year-old Chinese swimmer became the first man to sweep all three breaststroke events at the same worlds. He earlier won both the 50 and 100 breast.Zac Stubblety-Cook of Australia, the previous world-record holder and the Olympic champion in the event, finished second in 2:06.40, while Matt Fallon of the United States got bronze in 2:07.74.O’Callaghan won the women’s 100-meter freestyle. The triumph made the 19-year-old Australian the first female swimmer ever to sweep the 100 and 200 freestyle golds at the same worlds.O’Callaghan, who set a world record while winning the 100 on Wednesday, won the 200 in 52.16 seconds. She trailed at the turn, but surged in the last 25 meters.Siobhan Bernadette Haughey of Hong Kong earned silver in 52.49, becoming the first...

China edges Haiti 1-0 to keep World Cup hopes alive despite going down to 10 players

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:38 GMT

Adelaide, Australia (AP) — Despite playing with 10 players for more than an hour, China defied the odds to secure a 1-0 victory over Haiti on Friday in its second game of the Women’s World Cup. Forward Wang Shuang scored her first-ever goal at a World Cup in the 74th minute, converting a penalty after VAR ajudged her teammate Zhang Linyan was fouled in the area.This victory marks the second time in Women’s World Cup history that a team has won with 10 players on the field, with the previous occurrence taking place in 2011.KEY MOMENTSAfter a relatively uneventful opening 28 minutes, the game changed dramatically when China midfielder Zhang Rui received a red card for a tackle on Sherly Jeudy. Zhang was initially given a yellow card but, after VAR review, the decision was changed to direct red. The Steel Roses were forced to play with 10 players for the remainder of the match. The one-player advantage allowed Haiti to gain the upper hand, especially following the introduction of...