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Toll lanes being added for 20 miles on Interstate 80: Roadshow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:07 GMT

Q: Every time we head to Sacramento and pass the work being done on Interstate 80 near Vacaville, I wonder what they’re doing. Lots of people travel in the fast lane, but it is right next to the temporary concrete barrier, so I worry about them.Barbara SandovalA: The work you see being done in the center divide is a project to extend the express lane for 20 miles from Red Top Road in Fairfield to Leisure Town Road (just past I-505 junction) in Vacaville. This area is a bit of a bottleneck now, where east/west traffic on I-80 joins with north/south traffic on I-505.Q: I take some exception to your advice about how handicap parking is enforced. I went to an Alameda County Courthouse, Dublin, I think, and a gardening tractor/trailer rig was parked across all handicap parking, except one or two spaces. I complained to sheriffs monitoring the metal detectors and their response was, “You got a parking space, so what’s the problem?”Even more egregious, Palo Alto Med...

Heather Farm Park set for major upgrades

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:07 GMT

Walnut Creek is eagerly preparing to upgrade one of its beloved parks, with a considerable chunk of funding stemming from a voter-approved sales tax expected to yield tens of millions of dollars for the project.The City Council has given the nod to the proposed improvement of Heather Farm Park’s swim center and community center,  both of which are more than half a century old and presently located on opposite sides of the 102-acre park.Though combining the two facilities will require reducing the size of the fishing pond to make room for the new pools, other amenities at the popular park will remain, including tennis courts, picnic areas, the equestrian center, a skate park, an off-leash dog park, bike paths, an all-ability playground, tot lots, a sand volleyball court, a nature pond, six athletic fields, restrooms and a connection to the Iron Horse Trail. The new swim center would be north of the central playground.This sweeping project, among the most expansive of its kind in the ...

Editorial: Abortion pill ruling further erodes trust in federal courts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:07 GMT

Month by month, week by week, day by day, the federal courts are squandering their public trust.The partisanship of the judiciary was on full display last week when a Trump-appointed judge with a long history of anti-abortion activism issued a mind-boggling preliminary ruling invalidating the Food and Drug Administration’s 23-year-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.The decision threatens to make it much more difficult for patients across the country to access the medication. More than half of all abortions in the United States are medically induced using mifepristone. The ruling is an outrageous assault on a woman’s right to choose.If upheld, the decision would also undermine the FDA’s authority to determine whether drugs are safe and effective, creating chaos in the pharmaceutical industry. No court has ever overturned an FDA decision to allow distribution of a drug since Congress gave the agency authority in 1938.The safety of mifepristone should not ...

San Jose names city economics expert as new downtown-specific manager

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:07 GMT

SAN JOSE — Downtown San Jose now has a high-level city official who will be solely dedicated to efforts to bolster the city’s urban core, an appointment that fulfills a primary goal of the city’s mayor.Nathan Donato-Weinstein, an official with the city’s Economic Development Department, has been named to a post whereby his sole role would be to craft and direct an overall strategy for downtown San Jose.The downtown-specific role would enable Donato-Weinstein to focus only on downtown San Jose and its economic, retail, dining, entertainment, housing, workplace and social mosaics. For several years, Donato-Weinstein has been the business development officer with the city’s Economic Development Department.Municipal officials hope the newly created post would help the downtown achieve this lofty version as the principal gathering place for Silicon Valley.“This role is important to drive forward our shared goals for Silicon Valley’s true urban center,&...

DeSaulnier: Amid American gun crisis, California leads with solutions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:07 GMT

In the aftermath of a school shooting last month that left children as young as 9 years old dead in the state he represents, a Republican congressman from Tennessee publicly declared that Congress “is not going to fix” gun violence.This statement is infuriating, especially because gun violence kills over 100 Americans a day. But with his sentiments shared by his colleagues in the majority party, for now at least, he may be right.While congressional Democrats will never stop fighting for national reform, the Republican resistance pushes the struggle to the state level. And there, states can and should look to California and the success we have had in reducing gun violence through commonsense, evidence-based measures. Replicating them across the United States would save lives.Opponents of gun safety reform — including congressional Republicans whose subservience to the NRA renders them unwilling to fix the problem — tell Americans that laws are not the solution. But Califo...

San Mateo County supervisors approve penalties for watching illegal fireworks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:07 GMT

(BCN) -- People who attend illegal fireworks shows in San Mateo County would find themselves facing a fine, in addition to those who set off the fireworks, following a vote Tuesday by the county's Board of Supervisors. The board amended the county's existing fireworks ordinance to make spectators of illegal fireworks subject to a fine of $500. Spectators are defined as anyone within 200 feet of an illegal fireworks discharge who is there to observe them. Repeat violators within 12 months of a prior citation would be fined $1,000. The revised fireworks ordinance would also hold parents or guardians liable for the illegal fireworks set off by minors. "Sheriff (Christina) Corpus and I got together and began to have discussions about how we could work together to strengthen our fireworks ordinance, perhaps give it more teeth," said Supervisor Warren Slocum, who introduced the amendments. "And that's exactly what we did." Violators will also be responsible for the cost of ha...

Advocates rally in support of speed cameras in San Francisco

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:07 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Dozens are set to gather Wednesday morning to advocate for the state of California to pilot speed safety cameras in major cities across the state.Advocates are set to leave from San Francisco City Hall at 7:45 a.m. and head to the state capitol where the group plans to speak with law makers about Assembly Bill 645. This bill would allow speed safety cameras to be legal in California.The cameras would use speed measurement devices to detect speeding and capture evidence of a vehicle violating the speed limit by photo of a license plate. Fines would start at $50 for anyone caught driving 11 miles over the speed limit and go up from there, with fee reductions offered to those who financially qualify.Revenue from the fines would go towards street safety things like speed bumps.The group wants the cameras placed in places with high crash rates and school zones, specifically in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach.Advocates say the...

Theratechnologies: Fiscal Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:07 GMT

MONTREAL (AP) — MONTREAL (AP) — Theratechnologies Inc. (THTX) on Wednesday reported a loss of $10.4 million in its fiscal first quarter.The Montreal-based company said it had a loss of 11 cents per share.The metabolic disorder drug company posted revenue of $19.9 million 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 THTX at https://www.zacks.com/ap/THTXSource

US consumer inflation eased but still remained high in March, likely meaning Fed will further raise rates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — US consumer inflation eased but still remained high in March, likely meaning Fed will further raise rates.Source

Red light, school zone cameras approved, coming to Prince William Co. by summer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:07 GMT

Drivers in a hurry, take notice because school and highway zone speed cameras, and red light enforcement cameras are coming to Prince William County, Virginia.On Tuesday, the Board of County Supervisors approved a one-year pilot program that will start this summer to install automated enforcement cameras in nine initial school zones, and eight proposed initial intersections for red light cameras.“I know that there are people who have heartburn about these things we’re approving today,” said Occoquan Supervisor Kenny Boddye. “This will save lives.”“We’ve seen the data — we know that we will see higher compliance with the law,” Boddye added. “We will see a higher chance of people slowing down and changing behaviors that we’ve talked about for so long.”Not all the supervisors were as enthusiastic about the red light enforcement aspect of the plan, saying it felt like a money-grab, and questioning how it would enforced.Co...