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Trial set for East Bay siblings linked to 2021 killing of Carmel woman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:02 GMT

A Solano County Superior Court judge scheduled an August trial date for a brother and sister charged in connection to the late-October 2021 killing of a 19-year-old Carmel woman in Fairfield.During a Friday morning trial-setting hearing, Judge William J. Pendergast ordered Jessica Yesenia Quintanilla, and Marco Antonio Quintanilla, 29, both of Pittsburg, to return to Department 11 at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 5 in the Justice Building in Fairfield.The judge also scheduled some pretrial matters, including a readiness conference at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 16 and a trial management conference at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 1.Deputy District Attorney Ilana Shapiro leads the prosecution.Jessica Quintanilla, 23, is represented by San Francisco-based attorney William Alan Welch. She is being held without bail on first-degree murder charges in the Claybank Detention Facility in Fairfield.Marco Quintanilla, 29, who is represented by San Francisco attorney Laurie D. Savill, is charged with being an accessory in the case and ...

Caltrans identifies 15 potentially dangerous properties beneath I-10 Freeway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:02 GMT

A preliminary review of a program that rents space around and beneath California’s freeways has identified 38 sites that could threaten public infrastructure, including 15 below the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles where a destructive pallet fire at one such property  shut down one of the busiest thoroughfares in the country in early November.Caltrans identified the risky sites based on the “results of recent inspections and characteristics of the site, including nature of known uses and proximity to critical infrastructure,” according to a memo from CalSTA Secretary Toks Omishakin to Gov. Gavin Newsom.Newsom ordered Caltrans to complete a comprehensive review and assessment of the 601 “airspaces” leased by the state in response to last month’s fire. Records revealed inspectors had flagged safety hazards repeatedly and recommended terminating the lease with the company controlling the property near downtown Los Angeles more than a year before the blaze began, but Caltrans didn’t take actio...

Family’s pet ‘wolf-hybrid’ kills 3-month-old baby

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:02 GMT

 A 3-month-old baby in Alabama died after being bitten by a “wolf-hybrid” kept as the family’s pet, according to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.Around 12:54 p.m. on Thursday, sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and county animal control officers responded to a 911 call about an apparent animal attack involving an infant at a home in Chelsea, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.The infant was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead due to injuries suspected to have been caused by the animal, the release said.A wolf-hybrid is a term for a canine with mixed wolf and dog ancestry. The family was aware there was wolf in the dog’s lineage, Shelby County Coroner Lina Evans confirmed to CNN on Saturday.By request of law enforcement, the animal was euthanized at the scene and taken to the Alabama State Diagnostics Laboratory.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Woman arrested after breaking into Palo Alto home with family inside Crime and Public Safety | ...

Middle or upper income? Californians brace for higher electric bills

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:02 GMT

The sun sets behind a row of electric towers in Fresno County on Sept. 6, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local People, the pain is real.If you’re one of the 12 million-plus or so households in California that do not have solar panels — meaning you buy electricity from Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, or Pacific Gas & Electric — your bills have essentially doubled over the past decade (has your income?). Electric bills in California are now twice the national average, and a new income-based, fixed service charge means they’re headed even higher for many middle- and upper-income folks.This time, the 1 million-plus or so rooftop solar households won’t be shielded from their neighbors’ pain. Since most solar owners depend on the same infrastructure as everyone else for power once the sun goes down, they should also pay for its upkeep, the thinking goes.Meet California’s first-in-the-nation, income-based fixed service charge, aimi...

As America gets older, immigration could be key

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:02 GMT

In 2021, more than 1.5 million people came to the United States from more than 200 countries, including nearly 640,000 people who came looking for a job.It was an unusually big year, immigration-wise. The pandemic was starting to ease up. Some (though not all) of the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies had just been rescinded.  And inflation, violence and environmental catastrophes were prompting a lot of people around the world to view the United States as a place to make a fresh start, an idea that’s been popular for much of the past two centuries.The big immigration year of 2021 also was part of an immigration boom that’s been underway in the United States for three generations. Between 1965 and 2015, immigrants accounted for about 55% of America’s total population growth, according to a study by Pew Research. About 13.6% of the country’s current population was born in another country, a level last seen in 1920.And Southern California is one of the most immigr...

Stanford’s Montoya comes up big to help Cardinal to NCAA final

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:02 GMT

Playing in the College Cup for the first time, Mountain View High graduate Allie Montoya took just 79 seconds to make her mark on the biggest stage in women’s college soccer.The Stanford sophomore’s shot from the right corner of the box landed in the top left corner of the net, providing the winning goal in the Cardinal’s 2-0 NCAA Tournament semifinal win over BYU and setting up a historic championship match.When third-ranked Stanford takes on No. 1 Florida State Monday in Cary, N.C. (3 p.m., ESPNU), it will mark the first-ever final between undefeated teams.Goals figure to be hard to come by Monday. Stanford (20-0-4) leads the nation in goals-against average (0.41) and has posted 20 shutouts in its last 32 matches. Florida State (21-0-1) has only conceded one goal in its last 818 minutes of play and is the first team since 2017 to shut out its first five NCAA Tournament opponents.So the game might come down to another moment of brilliance like the one Montoya had at the start of th...

OxyContin maker’s bankruptcy deal goes before the Supreme Court, with billions of dollars at stake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:02 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday is hearing arguments over a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would shield members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids.The agreement hammered out with state and local governments and victims would provide billions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic. The Sacklers would contribute up to $6 billion and give up ownership, and the company would emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention. But the justices put the settlement on hold during the summer, in response to objections from the Biden administration.The issue for the justices is whether the legal shield that bankruptcy provides can be extended to people such as the Sacklers, who have not declared bankruptcy themselves. Lower courts have issued conflicting decisions over that issue, which also has implications for other major product liability lawsuits...

SAIC: Fiscal Q3 Earnings Snapshot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:02 GMT

RESTON, Va. (AP) — RESTON, Va. (AP) — Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) on Monday reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $93 million.The Reston, Virginia-based company said it had net income of $1.76 per share. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs and non-recurring costs, came to $2.27 per share.The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.66 per share.The information technology company posted revenue of $1.9 billion in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.78 billion.SAIC expects full-year earnings in the range of $7.70 to $7.90 per share, with revenue in the range of $7.33 billion to $7.35 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SAIC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SAICSource

James Madison, Maryland, VT, Howard and Liberty receive invitations to college football bowl games

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:02 GMT

While the rest of the country discussed the final field for the four-team College Football Playoff, four local teams — James Madison, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Liberty and Howard — all received invitations to play in upcoming bowl games in late December.James Madison (11-1) is headed to the Armed Forces Bowl to face the Air Force on Dec. 23 in Fort Worth, Texas, with kickoff at 3:30 p.m. James Madison has been ranked in the Top 25 in every poll since Oct. 22 and started the season with 10 straight wins.The Dukes will head to its first bowl game without coach Curt Cignetti, who resigned after agreeing to a deal to become the new head coach at Indiana. Offensive line coach Damian Wroblewski will be the acting head coach at the Armed Forces Bowl.“Every member of our football program is honored and excited to represent JMU in its first ever bowl game,” Wroblewski said in a statement. “We understand the unusual circumstances that we are in, and that only makes us smile e...

Is Man City feeling post-treble blues? 3 straight draws leave team in sticky spot before Villa game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:02 GMT

Erling Haaland raged in the face of the referee. Ruben Dias threw his hands out in frustration. Jeers from Manchester City fans swirled around the ground.The Etihad Stadium was a scene of outright anger in the final moments of a wild 3-3 draw against Tottenham after a refereeing mistake denied City a potential stoppage-time winner for Jack Grealish.The pent-up ire that manifested itself Sunday has been building, though.City might finally be experiencing some post-treble blues.There was always going to be some sort of comedown after being in soccer dreamland by becoming only the second team — after Manchester United in 1999 — to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season.Pep Guardiola predicted it would happen. Former United players warned it would happen. It’s taken a few months but maybe now it has happened.It might only be a small drop-off but three straight draws in the Premier League represents the first time since Guardiola’s first year in charge tha...