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Newts v. commutes: Park rangers push to extend road closures near Berkeley during migration

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:00 GMT

BERKELEY — Every winter, newts emerge from their seasonal slumber to lumber through Tilden Regional Park’s wooded hills searching for mating pools of water at the nearby Wildcat Creek, Regional Parks Botanic Garden and even Tilden Golf Course.While a potent toxin secreted from the skin of these 6-inch, brown-bodied, golden-bellied salamanders protects the amphibians from many predators during their annual migration, there’s still one major threat that the newts can’t fend off: car tires speeding down South Park Drive as they commute through the park.That’s why the East Bay Regional Parks District closes off the 1.5-mile roadway to vehicles from November to April to give the small, slow-moving animals a fighting chance against being smushed.But when wet, rainy weather extends beyond that five-month period, so does migration season. And as an increased number of newts are still making the crawl in April and even May, conflict is brewing among park rangers who want to...

UC has a plan to make it easier for community college students to transfer. Critics say it’s still not enough

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:00 GMT

The University of California has proposed a new pathway for community college students across the state — one that guarantees admission into one of UC’s nine campuses for those who qualify. But the plan has been met with mixed reactions from lawmakers, with some worried it doesn’t go far enough to simplify the process for students hoping to transfer to a four-year school.The proposal, introduced earlier this week at the State Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance, comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom in January called on UCLA either to join the university system’s existing transfer guarantee program or forfeit $20 million in state funding. That’s despite the fact that last fall, UCLA enrolled more community college students than any other campus, according to university data.With the right set of courses and GPA requirements, UC’s new program would enable California community college students to apply for the campus of their choice — and if they aren’t a...

A’s starter Fujinami has the stuff to wow MLB

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:00 GMT

OAKLAND — Massive roster teardowns and rebuilds are a familiar devastation in Oakland. But fresh starts set the stage for intrigue, too. This 2023 A’s roster is rife with potential, including Japanese pitching sensation Shintaro Fujinami.He’s no sure-fire superstar like his former high school rival Shohei Ohtani, but Fujinami’s eight-pitch arsenal has his teammates talking.“His stuff is absolutely electric,” catcher Shea Langeleirs said. “Two types of cutters, two sliders, two splitters. When he’s on, it’s fun.”Fujinami, 28, will make his Major League Baseball debut Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels. Though he won’t enter a pitchers’ duel with Ohtani — who struck out 10 A’s over six scoreless innings in the Angels’ Opening Night loss — Fujinami will likely face the two-way star and three-time MVP Mike Trout in his formal introduction to A’s fans and the American game.Expect some electricity Sat...

Borenstein: Oakland police chief was unfairly fired, confidential reports show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:00 GMT

Confidential reports that provided the basis for the firing of Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong were internally inconsistent and relied on thin evidence to unfairly tarnish his reputation.That’s my take after reading the reports — and I’m not alone.“I was dumbfounded by their conclusions,” says civil rights attorney John Burris. “The evidence did not support the termination.”As lead attorney in the infamous Riders case litigation against the city that has led to two decades of federal court oversight of the Police Department, Burris also has read the confidential documents.So have members of the Oakland Police Commission, whose chairperson, Tyfahra Milele, in statements after the firing, lauded Armstrong as an “effective reform-minded Chief.” Speaking on behalf of the commission, she too expressed concern about the “questionable quality, sufficiency, and credibility of the outside investigations.”The confidential reports, prepared by an outside law firm at the behest of ...

Read the confidential reports on the Oakland Police Department

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:00 GMT

The actions of Sgt. Michael Chung have led to two outside probes of how the Oakland Police Department investigated wrongdoing by its own members, and to the eventual firing of Chief LeRonne Armstrong.In March 2021, Chung left the scene of a vehicle collision in San Francisco without reporting the incident to police there. In April 2022, he discharged a service weapon in an elevator of the Oakland Police Administration Building.The Oaklandside online news publication obtained a copy of the confidential review of the vehicle collision investigation and published it on its website in February.Bay Area News Group has obtained a copy of the confidential review of the Police Department’s handling of the elevator discharge incident. We have redacted the names of people who were not central to the events that led to Armstrong’s firing. To read that report, click here.

Brooks: The necessity of patriotism (even in times like these)

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:00 GMT

Dear Zoomers,Because you’re online so much, you probably saw The Wall Street Journal/NORC poll that came out this week. It found that the share of Americans who say patriotism is very important to them has dropped to 38% from 70% since 1998. The share who say religion is very important has dropped to 39% from 62%. The share who say community involvement is very important has dropped to 27% from 47%. The share who say having children is very important has dropped to 30% from 59%.These trends are partly driven by you, adults younger than 30. Only 23% of you said that patriotism is very important or that having children is very important.You’re disillusioned, and I get it. You’ve grown up in a crappy time — Iraq, the financial crisis, Donald Trump, George Floyd, the pandemic, a widespread sense that you won’t be as well-off as your parents.But I grew up in a crappy time, too. I’m old enough to remember the assassinations of 1968. Over the next few years, Americans experienced defeat in...

Tornadoes kill at least 10 across US Midwest and South

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:00 GMT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Unrelenting tornadoes that tore through parts of the South and Midwest killed at least 10 people, shredded homes and shopping centers, and collapsed a theater roof during a heavy metal concert in Illinois.Emergency responders across the region counted the dead and surveyed the damage Saturday morning after tornadoes touched down into the night, part of a sprawling storm system that also brought wildfires to the southern Plains and blizzard conditions to the Upper Midwest.The dead included four in the small town of Wynne, Arkansas, Cross County Coroner Eli Long told KAIT-TV. Other deaths were reported in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana and the Little Rock area.Wynne City Councilmember Lisa Powell Carter said the town about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Memphis, Tennessee, was without power and roads were full of debris.“I’m in a panic trying to get home, but we can’t get home,” she said Friday night. “Wynne is so demolished. … There’s houses destroyed, tr...

Ukraine asks court to put Orthodox leader under house arrest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:00 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s top security agency notified a top Orthodox priest Saturday that he was suspected of justifying Russia’s aggression amid a bitter dispute over a famed Orthodox monastery.Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine’s most revered Orthodox site, has strongly resisted the authorities’ order to vacate the complex. Earlier in the week, he cursed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, threatening him with damnation.During a court hearing in the Ukrainian capital, the metropolitan strongly rejected the claim by the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, that he condoned Russia’s invasion. Pavel described the accusations against him as politically driven. SBU agents raided his residence. Prosecutors asked the court to put him under house arrest pending the investigation.The monks in the monastery belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been accused of having links to Russia. The dispu...

Haaland misses Man City match vs. Liverpool due to injury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:00 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Prolific striker Erling Haaland was not part of Manchester City’s squad to play Liverpool on Saturday after failing to recover from a groin injury.The Norway international, who has scored 42 goals in all competitions this season, had to withdraw from his country’s European Championship qualifiers against Spain and Georgia last week because of the problem.“He is not fit. He doesn’t feel proper,” City manager Pep Guardiola said ahead of the game. “It is not a big issue but today he was not right.”Haaland leads the Premier League scoring charts with 28 goals and has hit nine in his last three games in all competitions.The game was important for both teams, with City eight points behind first-place Arsenal with a game in hand, and Liverpool fighting to secure a top-four spot for Champions League qualification.Guardiola earlier this week said the 22-year-old Haaland would be given the chance to prove his fitness during the team’s trainin...

Greek prime minister renews call for EU cash for border fence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:30:00 GMT

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is asking the European Union for financial support to extend his country’s anti-migrant steel fence along the border with Turkey. “I think it’s about time for the EU to seriously consider providing European funds for these types of projects,” Mitsotakis told news agency AFP Friday on the sidelines of a visit to the wall in northeastern Greece. In a first step, Athens plans to extend its fence — which runs along the Evros River along the shared border with Turkey — by 35 kilometers, with the aim of adding a total of 100 kilometers by 2026. It is currently five meters high and 37.5 kilometers long. The question of whether EU member countries’ border fences should be financed with EU money is hugely controversial within the bloc. EU leaders in February pledged “significant” funds to bolster cameras and personnel at the frontiers, but stopped short of directly funding wall-building — ...