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San Jose cop behind racist texts had large cache of weapons seized because of message about shooting Black attorney

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:44 GMT

A San Jose police officer who resigned in November when his racist text messages surfaced — including one threatening to shoot a Black attorney — also had a large stockpile of weapons seized by authorities due to a gun violence restraining order against him, the Mercury News has learned.Mark McNamara, who joined the SJPD in 2017, cannot access his 18 firearms until May 2024, according to court documents filed in November. The confiscation of his weapons was initiated amid an ongoing civil lawsuit against the city over a controversial shooting where McNamara wounded a man at a downtown San Jose taqueria in 2022.The text that sparked the restraining order was directed at Adanté Pointer — the lawyer representing shooting victim K’aun Green in the lawsuit — and was sent to a former SJPD officer and another who is on administrative leave because of the messages. The names of the recipients of McNamara’s messages haven’t been released.“The other day thi...

Elderly resident critically injured in San Leandro house fire Thursday evening

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:44 GMT

The Alameda County Fire Department responded to a house fire on Thrush Ave. in San Leandro shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday evening, according to a post on X, formerly called Twitter.ACFD is on the scene of a house fire on Thrush Ave in San Leandro. Please avoid the area. #ALCOFIRE #sanleandro pic.twitter.com/9D6MKeSkez— Alameda County Fire (@AlamedaCoFire) December 29, 2023Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Former Oakland fire chief resigns from top San Rafael job Crashes and Disasters | ‘One of the pillars’: 95-year-old Oakland artist known for vivid depictions of Black life killed in house fire Crashes and Disasters | Vacant harbor master’s office at San Leandro Marina destroyed by fire Crashes and Disasters | Car catches fire in eastbound Caldecott Tunnel Crashes and Disasters | Christmas morning fire in San Leandro apartment building displaces three people According to a re...

This view of the Golden Gate Bridge is getting an upgrade — but for many, it’s an unwelcome one

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:44 GMT

For decades, one of the most iconic views of the Golden Gate Bridge has been framed by a heavy, sea-weathered iron chain along San Francisco’s road to historic Fort Point. Now, that chain is getting an upgrade — and many Bay Area residents are not happy about it.“Hey let’s take one of the really charming parts of the city and instead put in this pre school looking railing,” said one Reddit user, chiming into a cacophony of disappointment on the platform last week. “How this got accepted from a design standpoint borders on depressing.”“Doesn’t border, full on embraces bottom of the barrel depressing,” replied another.Rusty Iron chains that have lined the road to Fort Point in San Francisco, Calif. for over 30 years are in the midst of being replaced by National Park Service contractors with aluminum railings, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Although the dark, heavy, linked loop chains conjure visions of San Francisco’s seafaring days...

During a late night round of golf, Brandin Podziemski finds a mentor in Steph Curry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:44 GMT

Practice in Phoenix had ended and Brandin Podziemski was about to turn in for a nap when his phone lit up with a text message.It was from Steph Curry:“Hey, if you want to come golf with me, I’m leaving in 15-20 minutes.”Podziemski hadn’t played a hole of golf in his life, save for occasional rounds of putt-putt with family growing up in suburban Milwaukee. But unfazed by unfamiliarity and undaunted by a one-on-one, 18-hole round with the American Century Champion, Podziemski leaped at the opportunity.With a little guidance from Curry, Podziemski dusted off his old baseball swing and, by his count, had this golf thing down by hole 15 or 16. By Curry’s expert opinion, he started picking it up by hole eight or nine.“Then you form a sense of expectation for what a good hit is and you lose it a little bit,” Curry said. “He didn’t finish strong, but the potential is there.”A round of night golf in the Sonoran Desert was less about honing putting technique and...

49ers’ George Kittle at age 30 — as explosive as ever and the beating heart of a franchise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:44 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Life as a third wheel has been good to George Kittle.Just nine yards away from his third season with 1,000 yards receiving, Kittle at age 30 is as good as he’s ever been — which is saying something for someone who has more receptions (457) and yardage (6,245) than any tight end in 49ers history.The 1,000-yard milestone should be surpassed at some point in the first quarter Sunday in the 49ers’ road game against the Washington Commanders. As much as Kittle values blocking, he was taught early by former position coach Jon Embree to appreciate a statistical marker that is rarified air to a true tight end.“My goal every year is 1,000 yards, 10 touchdowns,” Kittle said. “It’s a goal I set for myself since my second year. My tight ends coach made me do that. And I love having that mindset, something to strive for.“Is it the most important thing? No, winning is. But it’s a fun little box you can check and it looks go...

Barabak: Newsom made the right call on Trump ballot access

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:44 GMT

Gavin Newsom had a chance to score some cheap political points that might help if, as widely expected, he someday seeks the White House.To his credit, Newsom passed.Chalk it up to good sense and, if the holiday spirit moves you, the governor’s integrity as well.There’s a movement across the land to strike Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot as punishment — or justice, if you prefer — for summoning and unleashing the deadly mob that overran the U.S. Capitol and desecrated our democracy on Jan. 6, 2021.The effort was moldering in the hearts of Trump antagonists until last week when the Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, disqualified the former president from the state’s primary ballot on the grounds of insurrection.Kounalakis panderingThe ruling, which was based on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, is on hold, as Republicans appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the move by Colorado’s justices invigorated the dump-Trump movement and catalyzed oppor...

8 of 2023’s worst destinations for overtourism. Here’s how to avoid the crowds next year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:44 GMT

By Blane Bachelor | CNNFollowing several years of pandemic-induced downturn, the travel sector is not only back, it’s positively booming. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the industry is expected to bring in some $9.5 trillion in 2023 — which accounts for 95% of its pre-pandemic levels.Related ArticlesTravel | The 10 world’s best and worst airports for 2023 offer plenty of surprises Travel | 12 places you can’t visit in 2024 Travel | A travel quiz for globetrotters and armchair travelers alike Travel | Universal Studios plans United Kingdom theme park Travel | The 25 worst-behaved tourists of 2023 Nowhere is this surge more evident than at popular tourist hot spots around the world, many of which have experienced record visitor numbers over the past year.Such surges may be sweet for local economies and hospitality businesses’ bottom line, but they also come with notable downsides: inc...

Elon Musk’s X fails to block California content moderation law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:44 GMT

By Peter Blumberg and Malathi Nayak | BloombergElon Musk’s X Corp. lost its effort in court to block a California law that seeks to control toxic posts on social media by requiring companies to disclose their content-moderation polices.In an eight-page ruling Thursday, a federal judge in Sacramento rejected arguments by the company formerly known as Twitter that the measure violates the free-speech rights of social media platforms.The ruling comes after Musk ignited a firestorm in November by endorsing antisemitic posts on his platform. X Corp. Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino scrambled to contain the fallout after major advertisers like Sony, Discovery, Apple and CBS stopped or paused spending on the site.California Governor Gavin Newsom said when he signed AB 587 in 2022 that it was designed to protect the public by demanding companies reveal their policies on hate speech, disinformation, harassment and extremism on their platforms, and report data on their enforcement of t...

Stock market today: U.S. futures are little changed as Wall Street wraps up surprisingly good year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:44 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock futures are little changed Friday as the market puts the wraps on a year of surprisingly robust gains.The benchmark S&P 500 index is just 0.3% from an all-time high after a gain of 24.6% in 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sits at a record 37,710.10. The Nasdaq shows a year-to-date gain of 44.2%, driven by gains in big technology companies.The so-called Magnificent 7 companies — Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Tesla — accounted for about two-thirds of the gains in the S&P 500 this year, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Nvidia leads the group with a gain of about 240%. Shares in European markets rose as well this year. Benchmark indexes in France and Germany made double-digit advances, while Britain’s has climbed just under 4%.Asia markets had a mixed session on the last trading day of the year for most markets. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gave up 0.2% to 33,464.17. It gained 27% in 2023, its best year in a decade ...

Real Madrid extends Ancelotti’s contract until 2026 after Brazil’s interest in hiring him as coach

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:44 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid has extended Carlo Ancelotti’s contract until 2026, seemingly ending Brazil’s hopes of hiring him as the new national team coach.Ancelotti had been linked with a move to Brazil for the past several months, with the president of the Brazilian soccer confederation publicly expressing his desire to hire the Italian coach.But Ancelotti had said all along that he would like to remain at Madrid if the club wanted him to stay. His current contract with the Spanish club Madrid was set to expire at the end of this season. Financial details of the new contract were not disclosed.This is Ancelotti’s second stint with Madrid. He had previously coached the club from 2013-15, having returned in 2021.Ancelotti has won 10 titles with Madrid, including two Champions Leagues and one Spanish league. The 64-year-old Ancelotti has been linked to Brazil’s men’s team since Tite stepped down as its coach in December 2022 after a disappointing World Cup.Brazil is ...