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SF Giants, A’s provide exciting preview for Bay Area baseball season

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:37:21 GMT

OAKLAND — Speed, sunshine and chaos helped bring Major League Baseball back to the Bay Area for Sunday’s Bay Bridge Series exhibition game between the Giants and A’s.Just more than 11,000 tickets were sold on a bright afternoon, when a uniquely-modern brand of baseball was on display as the Giants out-hit and out-ran the A’s in a 9-5 win.It was a weird one.The umpires, now busy tracking such things as the number of seconds before a hitter steps into the box and the number of toes touching the outfield grass, lost track of the outs in the sixth inning. With a man on first base, A’s infielder Tony Kemp fielded a throw from third and touched second for a force out, but never made the attempt to turn a double play and instead ran off the field. His team followed.The obedient Giants defenders replaced them on the infield dirt before asking the umpires for clarification. The call was rightfully reversed.On the field, the play was choppy. That’s baseball in March for you. At le...

Photos: Earthquakes play Toronto FC to a scoreless draw

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:37:21 GMT

Toronto goalkeeper Sean Johnson and San Jose’s JT Marcinkowski both finished with two saves as the two clubs played to a scoreless draw on Saturday night.The Earthquakes (2-2-1) improved to 2-0-4 in their last six home matches in the series. Toronto (1-1-3) hasn’t won in San Jose since 2010.San Jose was looking for its first three-match win streak at home since a 10-match run to begin the 2002 season.Toronto ended a nine-match winless streak with a 2-0 victory over Inter Miami last week. Toronto has just one shutout in its last 11 matches, and its four clean sheets since the beginning of last season is the fewest in the league, excluding expansion team St. Louis City.Toronto had a 15-14 edge in shots with both teams taking two shots on goal.San Jose remains at home to host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday. Toronto returns home to host Charlotte on Saturday.San Jose Earthquakes’ Jonathan Mensah (4) heads the ball against Toronto FC’s Hugo Mbongue (83) in the sec...

Sunnyvale couple ask what could have been done to help Western fence lizard

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:37:21 GMT

DEAR JOAN: From time to time, we have found a Western fence lizard in our garage, but the one we found in late fall last year was very lethargic. Over the weeks, he would be found in various locations, but never one that was close to a possible exit point.After doing a little research we realized he was in the state of brumation, similar to hibernation in mammals but still needing water. So we put down a couple of shallow containers of water. We had become attached to our little guy when, sadly, in early March he died.What more might we have done?— Edward Reed, SunnyvaleDEAR EDWARD: It sounds like you did your best to help him. Fence lizards only live about seven years, and they are a favorite snack of various animals, including the endangered Alameda whipsnake. The garage probably was not the best place for it to live, even if the lizard thought it was.Fence lizards are starting to emerge from brumation now. You can create habitats for them by stacking pieces of broken clay p...

TasteFood: Good things come in slow-cooked packages

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:37:21 GMT

I won’t lie: This chili takes three hours to make. Now, before you roll your eyes, just hear me out. When you make this rich and meaty black bean stew, you will be rewarded with a comforting, deeply flavored chili, tinged with smoke and fragrant with spice. Your family will be grateful, your guests will be impressed and any neighbors in proximity to the aromas wafting from your kitchen window will be quite envious. In fact, you might want to share a bowl with them.If this is not enticing enough, here is more good news: While the chili-making process will take several hours, most of the time will require little effort from you in the food-prep department. This chili is self-sufficient. It will do most of the work itself, simmering and bubbling away in the oven, allowing the meat to tenderize in a heady, smoky ragout, absorbing the flavors and mingling in a swirling brew of beer, tomato and spice. It will generously make you feel useful by asking for an occasional stir; otherwis...

California’s LGBTQ+ kids in the crosshairs as a surge of bills targeting gender identity reaches record high

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:37:21 GMT

For most of junior year, 16-year-old Ace Roman’s mornings have started inside the “Fit Closet” — a wardrobe in the parking lot of Skyline High School.Roman, who identifies as non-binary, would try on men’s pants, women’s skirts, and everything in between, experimenting with whatever felt best that day. Roman’s friends would do the same, with many pulling on clothing they never would have felt comfortable wearing at home.The Fit Closet, designed by Oakland nonprofit Youth Together, was created to help students explore their gender identity in a safe, comfortable space. But across the country, a record number of bills targeting LGBTQ+ youth has put programs like the Fit Closet at risk. There have been bills banning trans girls from competing in women’s sports at schools, prohibiting students from using bathrooms that don’t match their biological gender, and restricting discussion or education about gender and sexuality, among others.And according to young people and ...

Amid FBI investigation, Antioch police refuse to release use of force records, including a controversial neck hold that has since been widely banned

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:37:21 GMT

In the shadow of an FBI investigation into Antioch police’s use of force and other suspected misdeeds, the city is refusing to release records of a dozen cases that would shed more light on the force officers use on residents.The city’s decision this month to withhold the cases comes as the state continues to expand police transparency rules and with the FBI and county prosecutors probing alleged civil rights violations for on-duty uses of force, including when police dogs have been sicced on people.Of the 12 cases withheld, four involve police K9s causing an injury, including a man who suffered “obvious disfigurement” in 2016, and eight others concern officers who left suspects unconscious through use of a controversial neck hold technique that has since been banned statewide. In each case, the city insists the injuries are not serious enough to warrant disclosure.The refusal came in response to a request by the California Reporting Project, an alliance of various...

Is there reason to worry about the Warriors’ late-game execution?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:37:21 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson slammed his cup on the podium, peeved to be answering questions from media about the Warriors’ late-game execution issue.Two costly turnovers and some unideal shot selections in the fourth quarter’s waning seconds flipped what should have been another Warriors home win into a 99-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night. Just as the Warriors looked to be rounding into playoff shape, some of their worst late-game habits kicked in.Yet, Thompson and his teammates won’t sound any alarms. Thompson scoffed at the idea that he should be concerned with his team’s late-game execution at this juncture.“No. It’s basketball, man,” Thompson said. “It’s hard. It’s really hard. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way. It’s really hard.”The Warriors had a gutty win in their hands until a series of mistakes in the game’s last 25 seconds. Up one point and Minnesota with a foul ...

2 men shot to death on Tennessee Street in Vallejo

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:37:21 GMT

(BCN) -- Two men were killed and another man was injured in a shooting in Vallejo on Sunday night. Vallejo police responded to reports of a shooting on the 500-block of Tennessee Street at about 10:52 p.m. Officers found three victims each suffering from one gunshot wound, according to a press release from the Vallejo Police Department. One of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene and another victim died after being taken to a hospital. Another victim was taken to a hospital and was recovering from his injuries on Monday morning. The shooting deaths mark the 4th and 5th homicides in Vallejo in 2023. The names of the adult males are being withheld until their next of kin can be notified. Anyone with information about the shootings is asked to contact Detective Ken Jackson at (707)-648-4280. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Biden Is Fulfilling Trump’s Cruel Policy on Wild Horses

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:37:21 GMT

The Biden administration was supposed to have been a reprieve from the Trump years, but for conservationists who want the wild horses of the American West to live long and prosper, this didn’t happen. The anti-horse policies formulated under Donald Trump have been dutifully carried out by his liberal successor.“We feel betrayed, because we thought this was an administration that really believed in wildlife protections,” Manda Kalimian, president of the wild horse and environmental advocacy group Cana Foundation, told me recently. “For all the hope we placed in Biden, it turns out he’s almost worse than Trump when it comes to wild horses.”The protections for horses are enshrined in federal law. The 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act mandated that the animals “are to be considered … as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands,” and as such, they “shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death.”Under Trump in 2018, the Department of the Inte...

Scotland to get 1st Muslim leader as SNP elects Humza Yousaf

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:37:21 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Scotland’s governing Scottish National Party elected Humza Yousaf as its new leader on Monday after a bruising five-week contest that exposed deep fractures within the pro-independence movement.The 37-year-old son of South Asian immigrants is set to become the first person of color and the first Muslim to serve as Scotland’s first minister since the post was established in 1999.Yousaf, who currently is Scotland’s health minister, beat two other Scottish lawmakers in a contest to replace First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. She unexpectedly stepped down last month after eight years as leader of the party and of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government.Yousaf, who is due to be confirmed as first minister by Scottish lawmakers on Tuesday, faces the challenge of uniting the SNP and reenergizing its campaign for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.“Just as I will lead the SNP in the interests of all party members, not just those who voted for me, so I will lead Scotland i...