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Scientists worry warming planet will bring more infectious diseases

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

By Zoya Teirstein | Grist via Associated PressNEW YORK — People around the world are living longer, healthier lives than they were just half a century ago.Climate change threatens to undo that progress.Across the planet, animals — and the diseases they carry — are shifting to accommodate a globe on the fritz. And they’re not alone: Ticks, mosquitos, bacteria, algae, even fungi are on the move, shifting or expanding their historical ranges to adapt to climatic conditions that are evolving at an unprecedented pace.These changes are not happening in a vacuum. Deforestation, mining, agriculture, and urban sprawl are taking bites out of the globe’s remaining wild areas, contributing to biodiversity loss that’s occurring at a rate unprecedented in human history. Populations of species that humans rely on for sustenance are dwindling and getting pushed into ever-smaller slices of habitat, creating new zoonotic-disease hotspots. Meanwhile, the number of people experiencing...

Letters: Hold back sea | Harm’s way | Hate speech | Not ‘improvements’ | Change focus

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Spend whatever ittakes to hold back seaRe: “Rising sea levels expected to cost Bay Area $110B” (Page A1, July 14).In “Rising sea levels expected to cost Bay Area $110B,” David Lewis, executive director of Save the Bay, concludes, “The most important message is to get started sooner.”While this article was only about public works projects needed to mitigate some of the effects of climate change, I would extend it to all the effects of climate change. The thing we need to get started sooner is the reduction of CO2 emissions. The total cost of climate change is many times the $110 billion.We need to look at this like an alien invasion — unlimited funds need to be spent. Let’s get started.Cliff GoldFremontStop putting people inpath of rising watersRe: “Rising sea levels expected to cost Bay Area $110B” (Page A1, July 14).“Don’t put more people in harm’s way.” That’s ...

Calling it payback for bridge attack, Russia targets Ukraine port

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

By Felipe Dana | Associated PressKYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine said its forces shot down Russian drones and cruise missiles targeting the Black Sea port of Odesa before dawn Tuesday in what Moscow called “retribution” for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge to the Crimean Peninsula.The Russians first sought to wear down Ukraine’s air defenses by firing 25 exploding drones and then targeted Odesa with six Kalibr cruise missiles, the Ukrainian military’s Southern Command said.All six missiles and the drones were shot down by air defenses in the Odesa region and other areas in the south, officials said, though their debris and shock waves damaged some port facilities and a few residential buildings and injured an elderly man at his home.The Russian Defense Ministry said its “strike of retribution” was carried out with sea- launched precision weapons on Ukrainian military facilities near Odesa and Mykolaiv, a coastal city about 50 kilometers (30 miles) ...

H-1B visa: Canada’s program to poach Silicon Valley talent off to a booming start

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

Canada’s new program for poaching skilled technology workers from Silicon Valley hit its maximum 10,000 applications the day after it launched, according to the Canadian government.The nation to the north announced last month it would start issuing work permits to foreign citizens living and working in the U.S. under the H-1B visa, which is intended for jobs requiring specialized skills and is used heavily by the Silicon Valley tech industry to secure top foreign talent as well as lower-wage contractors employed through staffing firms.The Government of Canada opened the program to applicants on Sunday, and closed it Monday after receiving 10,000 applications.Canada’s consul general in San Francisco, Rana Sarkar, told this news organization last month that he believed the majority of work permits would go to H-1B holders from Silicon Valley. “This is where the talent is,” Sarkar said. “This is where we’re coming to attract talent.”It was not immediately ...

SF Giants stretch win streak to six after resuming suspended game vs. Reds

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

The Giants’ suspended game against the Reds resumed Tuesday afternoon and so did their win streak, as Joc Pederson and Michael Conforto drove in 10th-inning runs to help the Giants to a 4-2 victory.Winning their sixth game in a row, the Giants moved a season-high 12 games over .500.Pederson led off the 10th inning with a double off the left-field wall that scored automatic runner Brett Wisely. Then, two batters later, Conforto brought Pederson home with a hard-hit groundball to second base. Cincinnati’s infield was playing in and Jonathan India threw home to try to catch Pederson but was too late.Camilo Doval retired the side in the bottom half, striking out India and Joey Votto to earn the save.Just one inning earlier, Tyler Rogers picked rookie star Elly De La Cruz off second base, taking a bite out of the Reds’ bid for a ninth-inning walk-off. Rogers faked going into his pitching motion and instead continued to step backward, tossing to shortstop Casey Schmitt t...

Lawsuit filed against First Republic Bank over $7M lost for UC Berkeley student scholarships

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

(BCN) -- First Republic Bank and a financial advisor are being sued over alleged mismanagement of $7 million intended for low-income, first-generation college students at the University of California, Berkeley. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a San Francisco-based elderly couple, George Miller and Janet McKinley. For more than 25 years, the couple has donated money to UC Berkeley for the Miller Scholars Program, according to the complaint filed in the suit. First Republic Bank collapsed in May due to its having too many uninsured deposits and its failure to keep up with federal interest rates, according to the complaint. The Miller Scholars Program provides selected transfer students from low-income and first-generation college student backgrounds with up to $10,000 in scholarship money over two years. Walnut Creek man arrested after teen fatally shot in botched robbery In addition to financial assistance, the program provides students with mentorship, academic research and...

UC researchers develop new technique to find extraterrestrial life

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

(BCN) -- The truth is out there -- and researchers at University of California, Berkeley are determined to find it with a new method announced in a scientific journal Tuesday for finding possible extraterrestrial life through radio signals from space. Scientists have long searched for life on other planets through radio signals, but interference from terrestrial radios, cellphones, microwaves and other technologies often lead to false alarms. PHOTOS: Freezer section chained shut in SF Walgreens The new technique, developed by scientists at UC Berkeley's Breakthrough Listen project, verifies that the radio signal they are tracking has actually passed through space, making it easier to filter out false positives. The new detection method was described in an article that appeared in The Astrophysical Journal written by UC Berkeley graduate student Bryan Brzycki, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of astronomy Imke de Pater and Andrew Siemion, the director of UC Berkeley's program to sea...

Brentwood traffic stop leads to drug bust

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

(KRON) -- Brentwood Police Department officers pulled over a car for expired registration and found a stash of drugs in the vehicle, BPD said Tuesday. Police pulled the vehicle over in the area of Second Street and Brentwood Boulevard. The drugs were easily visible, per police. San Jose PD reveals what triggered police chase Monday In the car, officers found marijuana, heroin, and ecstasy. BPD shared an image of the recovered drugs (above), some of which were being stored in Mason jars. Others were packaged in bags. There were also stacks of cash visible in the police image. Police arrested the driver, 20-year-old Mario Ortiz of Pittsburg. He was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility for possession of drugs and other drug-related charges.

San Francisco rent control loophole closed

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- In response to Fillmore residents facing huge rent increases, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a law Tuesday restoring rent control protections that close a loophole in the city’s rent ordinance.For years, some residents at FD Haynes, a 104-unit affordable housing complex, enjoyed protections provided by rent control, including limitations on how much their monthly rent could increase. After the property owners received city funds in 2020 to make necessary repairs, the owners asserted that residents no longer were protected by rent control, according to supervisor Dean Preston. As a result, some families saw "astronomical hikes," he said."The rent hikes at Frederick-Douglass Haynes are unconscionable," Supervisor Dean Preston said. "No one should have their rent control ripped away without any say."Patricia Beasley has lived with her family at FD Haynes since 1977. After the repairs, they saw their rent jump last July from $1,408 to $...

Atlanta City Leaders Are Subverting Democracy to Save Cop City

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

A makeshift memorial for environmental activist Manuel Teran, killed by law enforcement during a raid to clear the construction site of “Cop City,” a police training facility near Atlanta, Ga., on February 6, 2023.Photo: AFP via Getty ImagesThe city of Atlanta is signaling its intention to preemptively invalidate a referendum campaign to stop the construction of a vast police training facility — “Cop City” — on Atlanta forest land.A federal court filing late last week, made on behalf of the city by attorneys from elite Atlanta law firm Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, calls the effort to put a Cop City referendum on the November ballot “invalid” and “futile.” Meanwhile, organizers are still gathering the necessary 70,000 signatures to move forward with the petition.The city’s filing is not a direct challenge to the entire referendum campaign, but it makes clear that Atlanta officials will act to nullify the democratic effort in court, should organizers succeed in getting ...