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Marijuana smell and safety concerns ignite disputes over public smoking

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

By Kevin Hardy, Stateline.orgCarl Sack is no fan of marijuana.He tried smoking once in high school and hasn’t touched it since. And he doesn’t just dislike the clouds of pot smoke he encounters around Duluth, Minnesota — he hates them.“I can’t stand to be around the stuff,” he said.But he’s still adamantly opposed to local efforts to ban the public consumption of marijuana, which became legal for recreational use on Aug. 1. Sack is among several residents asking the Duluth City Council to reject a proposed ban on marijuana consumption in city parks.“At a time when we’re finally getting rid of the racist war on drugs at the state level, the city of Duluth shouldn’t be the one to take up the mantle of this shameful and failed public policy,” he told the City Council last month.Many Minnesotans were surprised to learn the state’s legalization law didn’t outright ban public consumption. While existing tobacco rules already prohibit indoor smoking in most places, state law allows smoking...

Sandra Bullock ‘heartbroken’ that ‘The Blind Side’ could have been based on a lie

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

Sandra Bullock has reportedly been left devastated by claims that “The Blind Side,” the inspirational 2009 sports movie that won her an Academy Award, was based on a lie.“There was so much hard work put into the film that they all thought was the truth and now that has been questioned, it just upsets Sandra to no end that a time in her life was so special, is now shadowed with a completely different perspective,” a source has told the Daily Mail.Bullock’s positive experience with “The Blind Side” has been challenged this week by claims coming from Michael Oher, the former NFL left tackle whose story inspired the hit 2009 film. Oher alleges in court documents that Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, the White Memphis couple who took him into their home when he was a homeless Black teenager, misled the public about adopting him, including in their 2010 book, and swindled him out of profits they earned from selling the rights to his story to the producers of ...

Woman found dead in Oakland in suspected slaying

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

(BCN) -- A woman was found unresponsive in Oakland on Wednesday evening and her death is being investigated as a homicide, police said Thursday. The woman was located at about 7:30 p.m. in the 5100 block of Keller Avenue after people called police and said someone might be dead there. Partner of officer shot in ambush is brother of Bay Area assemblymember Officers located the woman, who was unresponsive, and medical personnel later pronounced her dead, according to police. The victim's name is not being released until her family is told of her death. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Police Department's homicide unit at (510) 238-3821 or a tip line at (510) 238-7950. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Will Hurricane Hilary affect the Bay Area?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

(KRON) -- Tropical Storm Hilary has now been upgraded to Hurricane Hilary as of Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service.The hurricane, located off the west coast of Mexico, will be strengthening over the next few days to a likely Category 4 hurricane, KRON4 Meteorologist John Shrable said. Hurricane Hilary will move up north towards Baja California where it will make landfall south of the United States-Mexico border. As it makes its way up, Southern California will likely see heavy rainfall next week. Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo: National Weather ServiceAccording to Shrable, the Bay Area will not see a direct hit from Hurricane Hilary, but showers are possible on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

San Francisco city officials ask for pause in robotaxi expansion

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Days after the California Public Utilities Commission approved a major expansion of driverless taxi service in San Francisco, city officials are now asking for a pause. On Wednesday, officials led by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed an administrative motion with the CPUC seeking to stay the implementation of the CPUC's Aug. 10 resolution that granted Cruise and Waymo permission to expand their commercial AV fleets in the city without restriction."San Francisco is seeking a stay while it pursues rehearing of the CPUC decision," the city attorney's office said in a press release. Starbucks no longer offering disposable cups at these North Bay locations The request for a pause comes on the heels of a series of mishaps and disruptive incidents involving robotaxis since the expansion was granted. On Wednesday, a driverless Cruise car drove past a "road closed" sign and a construction worker holding a "stop" sign and drove through a construction site ...

Partner of officer shot in ambush is brother of Bay Area assemblymember

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

(KRON) -- The partner of a San Jose Police Department officer who was shot while on duty Wednesday is the brother of San Jose Assemblymember Evan Low, Low said in a tweet. Low's brother, who was not injured, acted heroically to extract his injured partner, according to low.The San Jose police chief said Low's brother displayed "undeniable courage that few of us will ever experience," Low tweeted. "Without hesitation or consideration for himself, the officer's partner extracted the injured officer from the line of fire to a place of safety where he began to treat her injuries." 4-year-old girl killed, parents injured in crash near Oracle Park, driver identified The actions "surely contributed to both of them surviving this deadly attack," the chief added, according to Low.The officers were responding to a family disturbance at a San Jose apartment complex just before 8 a.m. Wednesday. When they knocked on the door, they immediately began taking fire, according to SJPD. A female off...

Washington State is hoping for stability and success amid a wave of change

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

The past two seasons have been a whirlwind for Jake Dickert and the entire Washington State program. Coaching changes. Conference changes. It’s felt like nonstop waves hitting the Cougars. “We’ve been through a lot of situations, we’ve navigated a lot of different things,” Dickert said. “Look at my tenure here. Washington State can thrive.”Dickert is beginning his second full season in charge at Washington State looking for the near-misses from last season to turn into victories. His first full season as a head coach was a mixed bag of success, struggles and ultimately a disappointing finish after a blowout loss to rival Washington and a bowl game flop against Fresno State. There were the highs of winning at Wisconsin and the lows of narrow home losses to Oregon and Utah.“I think we learned from Year One. I’ve learned a lot as a head coach in Year One to Year Two how to run a program,” Dickert said. “I think those are the things that you’re really going to see as we go through...

Quién es el “Bukele ecuatoriano” con “pinta de rambo” que quiere ser presidente

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador – Jan Topic, un exlegionario con pinta de Rambo que se presenta como un empresario experto en seguridad, y al que han apodado “el Bukele ecuatoriano” por sus planes de controlar con “mano dura” las cárceles, incursiona por primera vez en la política con la promesa de “un Ecuador sin miedo”, en momentos de una creciente violencia en el país, que las autoridades atribuyen al crimen organizado y al narcotráfico.“Yo no soy político”, asegura a EFE este economista y empresario de cuarenta años, que cuenta con nacionalidad francesa y que llega a los comicios como el “outsider”, respaldado por varios partidos, entre ellos el conservador Partido Social Cristiano (PSC).De carácter fuerte, respuestas concretas, apasionado por la seguridad y las cifras, y cansado de la política tradicional, Topic (Guayaquil, 1983) ofrece “un liderazgo diferente”, dinámico y de mano dura contra la delincuencia, porque s...

Men and women to use the same ball at the US Open after some women complained about theirs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Men and women will use the same tennis ball this year at the U.S. Open, satisfying some women who complained last year they were hitting an inferior product.Top-ranked Iga Swiatek — who eventually won the tournament — was among the women who felt their lighter ball didn’t hold its strength as long as the one that was used by men. The U.S. Open had been the only one of the four Grand Slam tournaments that used a different ball for men and women.Stacey Allaster, the U.S. Open’s tournament director, said Thursday that the type of ball being used was entirely up to the players and their tour, and that the U.S. Tennis Association only needed to know their preference after last year’s tournament so enough balls could be ordered from provider Wilson.The request to change was made and will be implemented at this year’s tournament, which starts Aug. 28, on a trial basis.Other changes being implemented include the use of tablets by coaches sitting in th...

Guatemalans to choose between political veteran, surprise outsider in presidential runoff

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:47 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — For much of Guatemala’s troubled electoral campaign, authorities seemed determined to limit voters’ options to a range of presidential hopefuls unlikely to shake up a corrupt political system, keeping several candidates seen as threats off the ballot.In part, the strategy seemed to work. The man leading polls a month before the first round election in June was kept off the ballot, and three-time candidate and former first lady Sandra Torres, an opponent-turned-ally of outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, was the lead vote-getter in the vote, sending her to Sunday’s presidential runoff. But one candidate campaigning against the system had flown so far under the radar that no one paid attention to him until he finished second in the June vote. Now Bernardo Arévalo is facing off against Torres on Sunday with polls suggesting he could very well win. Arévalo’s success appeared to rattle authorities. Almost immediately, a court ordered a review of pre...