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Massive snowpack’s summer bonus: Clean, cheap electricity for California

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:17:26 GMT

The huge snowpack that has blanketed the Sierra Nevada this winter has done more than end California’s drought and extend ski season. It’s also changing how Californians keep the lights on.With reservoirs full across the state, hydroelectricity generation from dams is expected to expand dramatically this summer, after three dry years when it was badly hobbled.In 2017, a wet year similar to this one, hydropower made up 21% of all the electricity generated in California. But by 2021, in the middle of California’s most recent drought, it provided just 7%.This year, billions of gallons of water are once again spinning turbines in power plants at huge dams like Shasta, Oroville and Folsom, and will be all summer and into the fall as the snowpack melts.More hydropower means more clean electricity, less need to burn natural gas and other fossil fuels, less risk of blackouts during heat waves, and less smog and greenhouse gas emissions, experts say.“It gives us more ...

Pashelka: After NHL draft lottery, one key ingredient remains for GM Mike Grier’s plan to work

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:17:26 GMT

It was four years ago this week that the San Jose Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series, leading them to what was then their fourth Western Conference Final in 10 seasons.After a gruesome head injury two weeks earlier, Joe Pavelski made a dramatic return to SAP Center, collecting a goal and an assist to give what would be that era of Sharks teams, that special and unique group of players, one final unforgettable moment.The Sharks then would lose to the St. Louis Blues in the next round, Pavelski would be allowed to walk as a free agent, and nothing’s been the same since.Sharks general manager Mike Grier knows it won’t be easy for his team to get back to where it was a few years ago, competing in playoff games in front of delirious, sold-out crowds. The best way to do it, at least from his vantage point, is to build from the ground up.Truthfully, that might mean being one of the NHL’s worst teams again next season and collecting another top...

Opinion: Why I quit my job and became a Bay Area teacher

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:17:26 GMT

Recent years have seen a national exodus of teachers who feel overworked and burnt out, leading to skyrocketing attrition and a national teacher shortage. However, California may be bucking that trend.The state saw a 35% increase in teachers who completed a California teacher prep program and their preliminary credential between 2017-21. I am on my way to being one of them. Two years ago, I decided to take a pay cut and leave my well-paying, low-stress private sector job to become a teacher.After graduating college, I moved to the Bay Area to become a management consultant. Despite the engaging work and learning potential, I felt unfulfilled. I longed for an opportunity to expand my impact and help others. Upon reflection, I realized that everything I had earned was due to the hard work and dedication of my teachers and mentors.It was time to pay it forward by giving other students what I had growing up: an engaging learning environment with teachers who believed and invested in the...

Woman guilty of murdering missing 11-year-old stepson Gannon Stauch, sentenced to life in prison

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:17:26 GMT

Gannon Stauch An El Paso County jury on Monday convicted Letecia Stauch of first-degree murder in the death of her 11-year-old stepson, finding the woman was sane during the brutal attack in the family’s Colorado Springs home three years ago.Jurors rejected Stauch’s defense that she suffered a mental break and was legally insane when she stabbed and shot Gannon Stauch on Jan. 27, 2020.The 39-year-old woman was also found guilty of tampering with a human body and tampering with evidence.Immediately after the conviction, Stauch was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 13.5 years in an emotional hearing during which Gannon’s family spoke about his life and death. The 11-year-old boy was born prematurely and weighed only 1 pound, 6 ounces at birth, his mother, Landen Bullard said. When he was born, his father’s wedding ring fit over Gannon’s arm up to his shoulder, another relative said.“You came into this world fighting, and unfortunately you left thi...

Skelton: 56 years after mental health reform failures, California tries again

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:17:26 GMT

There’s a bipartisan attempt in the state Legislature to finally finish the mental health reform that Gov. Ronald Reagan and lawmakers began 56 years ago. They botched the job back then.Their failure is a major reason why so many homeless people are living on California streets today.The 1967 reform was a splendid idea. It just didn’t get implemented as promised. Now it needs to be updated — altered to address the realities of mental health care — and given more money.The reforms under Reagan eliminated warehousing of mentally ill patients — frequently against their will — in depressing, oft-oppressive state hospitals. Everyone was told that the patients could be better treated in their local communities, close to family and friends.Great concept — except that neither the state nor local governments kicked in enough money for the treatment. Former patients — and thousands who should have been patients — wound up sleeping on downtown streets or in city parks or under freeways.The ref...

UFC fighter Tony Ferguson arrested on suspicion of DUI following rollover crash in Hollywood

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:17:26 GMT

By Wayne Sterling and Ben Morse | CNNUFC fighter Tony Ferguson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after his truck hit other vehicles and rolled over in Hollywood, California, on Sunday morning, the Los Angeles Police Department told CNN.According to the Los Angeles Times, citing police, Ferguson’s Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck flipped onto its side after hitting at least two parked vehicles on Wilcox Avenue shortly before 2 a.m. local time.Police said Ferguson initially refused to take a Breathalyzer test when he was taken into custody, the LA Times reported.Neither Ferguson’s representatives nor the UFC responded to CNN’s request for comment.Ferguson’s court date is set for June 1 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.Related ArticlesOther Sports | California woman gets 40 years in prison for sexually abusing young children, filming the crimes Other Sports | Party shooting in Southern California leaves 2 dead, 5 m...

Warriors find hope to overcome 3-1 deficit in the way they lost Game 4

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:17:26 GMT

LOS ANGELES — The scene at Crypto.com Arena was wrought with emotion following a Warriors’ Game 4 loss.On the court, LeBron James and Anthony Davis embraced Lonnie Walker IV, a role player who ripped the win away from Golden State with 15 fourth-quarter points to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 3-1 series lead.The feeling within the Warriors’ locker room was strange, in contrast — as hopeful and even-keeled as it has been through every high and low this season with a tinge of tension hanging overhead. How could they not feel tense with their title defense season now one loss away from ending? At least they have a few players in the locker room who’ve faced (and conquered) 3-1 deficits before.“I remember saying the same thing I did now,” Klay Thompson said. “Taking one day at a time and enjoying the process of chasing greatness.”The clear silver lining is the way in which the Warriors lost. It wasn’t Davis or James who beat th...

5 injured, 8 displaced in residential fire in San Francisco

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:17:26 GMT

(BCN) — San Francisco firefighters contained a fire early Tuesday in a high-rise building a few blocks southwest of the Parnassus Campus of the University of California at San Francisco. Five people were injured, including two who jumped from windows, according to Capt. Jonathan Baxter, speaking in a video the department shared at 3:52 a.m. on Twitter. All the injured people were taken to local hospitals and are expected to survive their injuries, he said. The fire is believed to have been ignited by a lithium-ion battery. Crews were dispatched at 1:04 a.m. to 6 Locksley Avenue. The American Red Cross is assisting eight people who were displaced by the fire, which damaged two units in the building. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

White Mountains: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:17:26 GMT

HANOVER, N.H. (AP) — HANOVER, N.H. (AP) — White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. (WTM) on Tuesday reported profit of $179.5 million in its first quarter.On a per-share basis, the Hanover, New Hampshire-based company said it had net income of $69.83. Earnings, adjusted for investment gains, came to $8.95 per share.The insurer posted revenue of $531.9 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $333.8 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on WTM at https://www.zacks.com/ap/WTMSource

DC firefighter shot and killed after reportedly assaulting girlfriend in Charles Co.

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:17:26 GMT

A D.C. firefighter was shot and killed by a man out walking his dog early Monday after reportedly assaulting his girlfriend in Charles County, Maryland.The shooting happened at around 3:30 a.m. Monday after deputies say Carl Braxton, 30,  reportedly assaulted his girlfriend inside their town house in the 2900 block of Sedgemore Place in Bryans Road.His death is being investigated as a homicide, according to the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.Deputies were originally called to the Bryans Road area for a reported domestic assault in progress.After the assault, deputies said the woman escaped and saw a man who was walking his dog.Witnesses told deputies that Braxton threatened to harm the man and “aggressively” walked toward him.The man, who has a permit to carry a firearm, shot Braxton, deputies said.Braxton was found near the intersection of Sedgemore Place and Matthews Road after being shot. He was taken to the hospital where he later died.The man who deputies sai...