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People with disabilities hope autonomous vehicles deliver independence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:45 GMT

Tony Leys | KFF Health News (TNS)GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. ― Myrna Peterson predicts self-driving vehicles will be a ticket out of isolation and loneliness for people like her, who live outside big cities and have disabilities that prevent them from driving.Peterson, who has quadriplegia, is an enthusiastic participant in an unusual test of autonomous vehicles in this corner of northern Minnesota. She helped attract government funding to bring five self-driving vans to Grand Rapids, a city of 11,000 people in a region of pine and birch forests along the Mississippi River.The project’s self-driving vans always have a human operator in the driver’s seat, poised to take over in complicated situations. But the computers are in control about 90% of the time, and they’ve given 5,000 rides since 2022 without any accidents, organizers say.“It’s been fun. I’m really sold on it,” said Peterson, who used to rely on her power wheelchair to travel around town, even in winter.Autonomous vehicles, which...

Young hockey player dies after being hit in the throat with puck

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:45 GMT

By Rachel Lau | CTV NetworkMONTREAL – An 11-year-old boy has died days after being hit by a puck in the throat during a minor hockey league practice session on Tuesday in Saint-Eustache, about 40 minutes away from Montreal.Saint-Eustache police confirmed the news of the boy’s death on Friday.“This morning, we were saddened to learn of the child’s death. We offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and loved ones,” a press release from the force reads.Following the incident at the Walter-Buswell complex, the child was rushed to a Montreal hospital to be treated for his injuries.“The Saint-Eustache minor hockey association and all its members are saddened by the accident that injured our young player,” the association told Noovo Info at the time. “We are working with the town to offer the necessary support to members who witnessed the accident. We are aware that the emotional impact is immense.”Related ArticlesWorld News...

New Year’s Eve 2023: 14 cool shows worth checking out on last night of the year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:45 GMT

Our New Year’s Eve plans usually consist of a movie, Chinese food and then trying to get back to our pad before things get too wild out there.Others, understandably, prefer a more rockin’ way to bring one year to a close and kick-start another. That’s why going to a concert continues to be such a popular NYE tradition for so many.And Bay Area fans definitely have a lot of tuneful options for Dec. 31, 2023. The offerings range from cool R&B and real-deal blues to electronic rock and Latin jazz.Then, of course, there are a variety of comedy gigs taking place around these parts as well.Many of these events will sell out, so now’s the time to make your plans.To help with that pursuit, here is our guide to the top NYE concerts and comedy shows taking place in the Bay Area.LCD SoundsystemThe incredibly popular electronic rock act — which headlined the huge Outside Lands festival at Golden Gate Park in 2016 — is set to thrill their many Bay Area fans with two year-ending sh...

Car fire spreads into vegetation, burns 20 acres near Pittsburg

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:45 GMT

BAY POINT — A car fire on a bypass road connecting eastern and central Contra Costa County spread into vegetation early Friday, burning 20 acres and threatening homes, fire officials said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Letters: Ghost Ship | Vote Democrat | Who Musk is | Grand juries Crime and Public Safety | Flaring reported Wednesday at Martinez refinery Crime and Public Safety | Martinez residents sue refinery after a year of accidents shakes community Crime and Public Safety | Fire in backyard tree spreads to nearby house in Concord Crime and Public Safety | ‘I’m committed to Oakland,’ Matt Horn says; post-fire GoFundMe effort launched Investigators were working to determine if the two-alarm blaze was set intentionally, spokesperson Capt. Chris Toler said. The car appeared to be abandoned when crews arrived about 1:50 a.m. to the Pittsburg side of Bailey Road, sugges...

Concord man charged with murdering his grandmother

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:45 GMT

CONCORD — A Concord man has been charged with stabbing his grandmother to death in an attack earlier this month, court records show.Fabian Gonzalez Cruz, 23, was charged Dec. 8 with murder and an enhancement alleging use of a sharp weapon in the death of 69-year-old Josefina Gonzalez, of Concord. He is being held in the West County Detention Facility in lieu of $1 million bail, records show.Josefina Gonzalez was stabbed to death in the morning of Dec. 5. Concord police arrested Fabian Gonzalez Cruz and booked him into jail around 7:30 a.m. that day, according to arrest records.Authorities haven’t publicly disclosed the suspected motive for the attack. Gonzalez Cruz has pleaded not guilty and is next due in court on Jan. 10, court records show.

Martinez Refinery Company addresses flaring issues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:45 GMT

(KRON) – The Martinez Refinery Company announced Friday that flaring is occurring at the refinery. According to the company, the flaring “may be visible and audible offsite due to an operational incident.” A strong odor has also been reported on top of the flaring. The company wrote, "We are aware of odor complaints and are conducting community monitoring to investigate the source." 3 Bay Area cities named among CA towns with most holiday spirit We apologize for any inconvenience to our neighbors. Flares are an essential part of a refinery’s integrated, engineered safety systems designed to safely manage excess combustible gases by burning them off efficiently and effectivelyMartinez Refinery CompanyThe company says all appropriate agencies have been notified of the flaring and working to address these issues. 

Man accused of mayhem after deputy injured in Redwood City

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:45 GMT

(KRON) -- A 35-year-old man is accused of committing mayhem when he allegedly went on a crime spree along El Camino Real in Redwood City on Thursday afternoon, according to deputies. Nicholas Ibarra, of East Palo Alto, robbed a victim and tried to kidnap a local coffee shop's employee, San Mateo County Sheriff's Sgt. Alfredo Gudino wrote.After the coffee shop incident, deputies saw Ibarra on El Camino Real "deliberately cause traffic hazards by targeting moving vehicles. Upon approaching the suspect, he violently attacked the deputy, causing him facial injuries," Gudino wrote. Ibarra suffered facial injuries as well. The Sheriff's Office did not say how Ibarra was injured.The deputy and Ibarra were transported to a hospital for treatment.Ibarra was later booked into jail in Redwood City on charges including mayhem, attempted kidnapping, aggravated assault on a deputy, resisting arrest, committing a felony while on bail. The Sheriff's Office wrote, "This incident underscores the brav...

Samantha Power Calls on Samantha Power to Resign Over Gaza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:45 GMT

Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development Samantha Power gives an interview in Kyiv on Oct. 6, 2022.Photo: Yevhen Kotenko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty ImagesA State Department official resigned on October 14, writing in a letter that the U.S. support for Israel’s assault on Gaza “will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and Palestinian people.” The director of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights resigned on October 31, stating that “once again we are seeing a genocide unfolding before our eyes and the organization we serve appears powerless to stop it.”With over 20,000 now dead in Gaza, there’s one government official who you’d assume — at least if you take her own words seriously — would join them. That is Samantha Power, current head of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Before that, she was the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. during the Obama administration.But Power...

A.J. Foyt Racing names Sting Ray Robb to drive No. 41 Chevy in IndyCar Series for 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:45 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A.J. Foyt Racing has named Sting Ray Robb as driver of the No. 41 Chevrolet next season in the NTT IndyCar Series.The 22-year-old Robb is entering his second year in the series and will drive a Chevy for the first time for the team founded by the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and run by son Larry Foyt. The graduate of IndyCar’s open wheel ladder series debuted for Dale Coyne Racing and finished 23rd with 147 points in the standings, highlighted by a career-best 12th-place finish in the season finale at Monterey, California.Named after the Chevy Stingray Corvette, Robb said he was honored to drive the No. 41 and thanked the team’s partners and supporters in a release Friday.“It provides an opportunity for me to implement past lessons and carry momentum forward in my sophomore season as we enter a very competitive field of teams and drivers,” Robb said. “Building together upon our successes, I am excited for the season ahead.”The Indianapolis reside...

Declared missing as a child, British teenager lives off-grid for 6 years, then pops up in France

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:45 GMT

LE PECQ, France (AP) — The vehicle’s headlights silhouetted the exhausted teenager walking alone in the rain in deepest rural France, with a skateboard tucked under his arm. “I said to myself, ‘That’s strange. It’s 3 am in the morning, it’s raining, he’s all by himself on the road between two villages,” delivery driver Fabien Accidini recounted. From there, the story gets stranger still. The youngster, it turned out, was Alex Batty, a 17-year-old from Britain who had been missing since 2017.British and French authorities confirmed on Friday that the teenager found by Accidini this week was the boy who vanished at age 11, when his mother and grandfather took him on what was meant to be a two-week family holiday in Spain.Instead, it turned out to be a six-year odyssey through Morocco, Spain and southwest France, living an off-the-grid life. Until this week. Batty suddenly popped back up on the radar on Wednesday. That’s when Accidini found him alone on the remote Fre...