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Opinion: California single-payer bill is incremental step to disaster

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:32 GMT

The California Senate will hold a hearing today on a bill that would lay the groundwork for a government takeover of the state’s health care system.Legislators have been trying to install single-payer health care for years. But this new effort has a better chance of advancing than its legislative forebears. That should concern Californians, who would face long waits for subpar care under a system of state-run health insurance.Sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, Senate Bill 770 would require the Newsom administration to pursue a federal waiver that would free up Medicare and Medicaid dollars for the state to establish a “unified financing” system for health care.It’s unclear whether the Biden administration would approve such a waiver. But the fact that SB 770 focuses on how to fund a single-payer system sets it apart from previous plans.Consider SB 562, a single-payer bill progressives introduced in 2017. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon eventuall...

Los Gatos man seriously injured by rolling truck

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:32 GMT

LOS GATOS — A 59-year-old Los Gatos man suffered serious injuries Monday after a pickup rolled onto him, according to the California Highway Patrol.Prior to the accident, the man reportedly was working beneath a 2000 GMC Sierra in the area of Skyland Ridge Road near Skyland Road. The truck, which was elevated on jacks, started to roll away and crushed the man beneath, according to the CHP. Officers were called to the scene shortly before 2 p.m. Monday.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | San Jose pedestrian critically injured in collision Crashes and Disasters | San Jose-Evergreen Community College District administrator dies while vacationing in Mexico Crashes and Disasters | 1 person killed, five others injured in Manhattan parking garage collapse Crashes and Disasters | ‘It kind of worked,’ says California pilot who missed homes with hard landing Crashes and Disasters | Hawaii surfer loses foot in shark...

16-year-old boy arrested in Santa Cruz County juvenile’s fatal shooting

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:32 GMT

WATSONVILLE — The morning after a 15-year-old boy was gunned down near the intersection of Rodriguez and Main streets, police investigators arrested an unidentified juvenile, a Watsonville police spokesperson announced late Tuesday afternoon.The teen’s death constituted Watsonville’s third homicide of 2023 and the fourth to date across Santa Cruz County.The suspected shooter, according to Watsonville Police Department spokesperson Michelle Pulido, was a 16-year-old boy. Investigators arrested the teen around 11:30 a.m. Sunday in unincorporated Santa Cruz County, more than 17 hours after the shooting occurred, according to Pulido. Public release of the arrest details was delayed more than two days, Pulido said in a text to reporters, because of the “complex” nature of a juvenile case.This week’s arrest is the second homicide in the county to identify a 16-year-old juvenile as the suspected shooter. The earlier case involved Rowan Parham, an 18-year-old Soquel man who was fatally shot...

Barabak: Lefties never liked Feinstein, now seek to hijack her seat

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:32 GMT

Dianne Feinstein wished to make a statement.The former San Francisco mayor was running for California governor and, knowing she would never win the endorsement of the far left, chose instead to stick those activists in the eye.“Yes, I support the death penalty,” Feinstein told fellow Democrats at the party’s state convention. “It is an issue that cannot be fudged or hedged.”A chorus of boos sounded like thunder. Feinstein stared straight ahead, unblinking, for nearly 30 seconds as the fury washed over her. (Meantime, cameras rolled to capture the made-for-TV moment, intended to dispel the notion of Feinstein as some kooky San Francisco liberal.)That was in 1990. But for some Democrats, the anger never let up.Now, with Feinstein ailing, some of her ideological foes hope to exploit the moment by agitating for the senator’s resignation and replacement with someone more to their liking, further to the political left.A favorite is Oakland’s Rep. Barbara Lee, a declared candidate to repla...

Prosecutor: Defendant in deaths of 3 California boys ‘used his car as a weapon’

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:32 GMT

Anurag Chandra, incensed at being the victim of a teenage prank, was not content to run his agitators’ car off the road, a prosecutor said.Instead, after briefly forcing the boys to stop, Chandra made a U-turn and tailed the six close friends at speeds up to 99 mph before ramming their car at 88 mph on Temescal Canyon Road in Temescal Valley on Jan. 19, 2020, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham told jurors on Tuesday, April 18, during his opening statement in Chandra’s murder trial.Their car careened into a tree and pole, killing Daniel Hawkins, 16, of Corona; Drake Ruiz, 16, of Corona; and Jacob Ivascu, 16, of Riverside. The three others — Sergio Campusano, 18, Joshua Hawkins, 13, and Joshua Ivascu, 14 — suffered broken bones and other injuries.“The kids didn’t have a chance,” Beecham said in Superior Court in Riverside, where family members of the boys attended the trial.Chandra has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder ...

Ruling in lawsuit on California police shooting that killed girl in Burlington store must wait, judge says

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:32 GMT

A decision on a bid by the City Attorney’s Office and a lawyer for a Los Angeles Police Department officer to stay a lawsuit by family members of a 14-year-old girl accidentally shot by the officer inside a North Hollywood clothing store was delayed on Tuesday, April 18, because the judge hearing the motion deferred any ruling until May.Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Cherol J. Nellon is on a temporary assignment filling in for Judge Daniel M. Crowley, who heard all motions in the civil case involving the death of Valentina Orellana-Peralta before Tuesday. Nellon postponed the hearing until May 31 so Crowley can hear the motion when he returns.The police commission ruled in November that LAPD Officer William Dorsey Jones’ first rifle shot at a suspect, Daniel Elena-Lopez, who was attacking a woman inside the Burlington Coat Factory on Victory Boulevard on Dec. 23, 2021, was within the department’s policy regarding the use of deadly force.However, the commission found Jones’ second ...

Vegas man who used dating apps is suspected in series of California rapes, assaults

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:32 GMT

Los Angeles police are seeking possible victims of a Las Vegas man who they say used dating apps and social media to target and sexually assault women.Matthew Werner, now 46, was arrested in February on suspicion of multiple rapes around the Los Angeles area dating back to 2015, Los Angeles police said on Tuesday, April 18.Werner is thought to have used various aliases to avoid detection, they added.Five women were identified as sexual assault victims as of Tuesday evening, but LAPD said there could be additional ones. Police listed North Hollywood, Woodland Hills, Hollywood, and Midcity as locations where assaults are believed to have occurred.As of Tuesday evening, Werner was being held at Twin Towers Correctional Facility with bail set at $3 million, according to jail records. He is next due in court May 19.LAPD urged possible victims or witnesses to contact them at 213-473-0447. Those who wish to send anonymous tips can LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.Related Articl...

Politics, Not Science, Will Win the Battle for Mifepristone

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:32 GMT

Since April 7, when Amarillo, Texas, federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk nullified the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, reproductive rights advocates have been decrying (among other things) his ignorance, intentional or not, of science.“It is clear that the judge disregarded the strong medical argument that we presented in our amicus brief,” declares the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in a statement typical of this line of argument. “Medication abortion has played a critical role in helping people continue to access needed abortion care. It also provides people with an alternative to an abortion procedure; in fact, more than half of people who receive abortion care choose medication abortion.”Now it is true that abundant medical evidence is on the side of the defendant, the FDA. Mifepristone is safer than penicillin. Serious side effects occur in a fraction of a percent of medication abortions. Carrying a pregnancy to term i...

Ally Financial: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:32 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — DETROIT (AP) — Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY) on Wednesday reported first-quarter profit of $319 million.The Detroit-based company said it had profit of 96 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to 82 cents per share.The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 88 cents per share.The auto finance company and bank posted revenue of $2.1 billion in the period, topping Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.05 billion.Ally Financial shares have risen almost 10% since the beginning of the year. The stock has declined 39% in the last 12 months._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ALLY at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ALLYSource

Escándalo de corrupción, acusaciones de favoritismo y franquismo: Real Madrid y Barcelona, en guerra de palabras por el pasado fascista de España

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:00:32 GMT

(CNN) — Las tensiones entre Real Madrid y FC Barcelona, dos rivales acérrimos dentro y fuera del campo, dieron un giro inesperado e incendiario con los dos clubes envueltos en una guerra de palabras sobre qué institución estuvo más cerca de Francisco Franco durante el gobierno de 36 años del dictador en España.El trasfondo del embrollo es lo que se conoce como el ‘Caso Negreira’, un presunto escándalo de pago de árbitros que ha llevado acusaciones de corrupción a las puertas del Barcelona.Más de ocho semanas después de que se hiciese público el escándalo, el presidente del FCB, Joan Laporta, salió este lunes a defender al club catalán.Durante una conferencia de prensa de dos horas, que fue convocada para responder públicamente a las acusaciones de que el Barça pagó US$ $ 7,8 millones durante 17 años a José María Negreira, el exvicepresidente del Comité de Arbitraje del fútbol español, Laporta se apegó en gran medida a su guión en un principio.Hubo las esperadas neg...