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Far-right Polish lawmaker blows out Hanukkah candles in parliament

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

By Vanessa Gera | Associated PressWARSAW, Poland — A far-right lawmaker in the Polish parliament on Tuesday extinguished candles on a menorah that were lit for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, creating disruption and scandal as a new pro-EU government was beginning its work.All major political forces quickly denounced the unprecedented incident by Grzegorz Braun, one of the most controversial lawmakers in parliament, and said there would be no tolerance for antisemitic and xenophobic behavior in the parliament.Braun, a pro-Russian member of the Confederation party, has in the past falsely claimed that there is a plot to turn Poland into a “Jewish state” and has called for homosexuality to be criminalized.The speaker of the parliament, Szymon Holownia, called the act “absolutely scandalous” and excluded Braun from the day’s parliamentary session, expressing hopes that “he will not return soon.” He said he was reporting him to prosecutors.The p...

Russian man flies from Denmark to LAX with no ticket or passport

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

Associated PressLOS ANGELES — A Russian man who flew on a plane from Denmark to Los Angeles in November without a passport or ticket told U.S. authorities he didn’t remember how he got through security in Europe, according to a federal complaint filed by the FBI.Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 4 via Scandinavian Airlines flight 931 from Copenhagen. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer could not find Ochigava on the flight manifest or any other incoming international flights, according to the complaint filed Nov. 6 in Los Angeles federal court.He was charged with being a stowaway on an aircraft and pleaded not guilty in a Dec. 5 arraignment. A trial was scheduled for Dec. 26. A federal public defender representing Ochigava, who remained in custody Tuesday, didn’t immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.The flight crew told investigators that during the flight’s departure,...

Photos: Parishioners celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

Hundreds of Catholics parishioners attend the noon mass led by Father Ismael Gutierrez as they celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Saint Elizabeth Catholic church in Oakland on Tuesday.Mariachi Tradicion Mexicana, who’s been performing since last night and this morning to sing “Las Mañanitas,” a traditional Mexican birthday song, continue singing during the mass.Babies to women were dressed for the occasion in traditional Mexican dresses, and toddlers, boys and some male adults were dressed as Juan Diego, the indigenous man who witnessed the apparition of the Virgin on December 12, 1531, at the Hill of Tepeyac in Mexico City.Angle Franco, 1, of Oakland, dressed as Juan Diego, walks with his mother before mass is celebrated during the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Catholics from all over the world celebrated the apparition of the Virgin witnessed by Juan Diego, an...

U.S. Navy officer sentenced for fatal DUI crash on Highway 1 in Monterey

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

(KRON) -- A U.S. Navy Serviceman was sentenced to prison on Monday for causing a fatal head-on DUI crash on Highway 1 in Monterey, prosecutors said.A judge sentenced 25-year-old Christopher Witherspoon to serve six years behind prison bars. Witherspoon is a U.S. Navy Petty Officer and student at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, prosecutors said. On May 6 at 3:45 a.m., Witherspoon was driving drunk and the wrong-way on Highway 1 when his Toyota Camry sedan collided head-on into the victim's Mitsubishi Mirage, according to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office. Witherspoon drove northbound on Highway 1's southbound lanes near an interchange with Highway 68. "Due to his level of intoxication, Witherspoon failed to realize he was driving on the wrong side of the divided highway and crashed head-on into victim Luis Hernandez’s Mitsubishi Mirage," the District Attorney's Office wrote.The victim, 69-year-old Luis Hernandez of Seaside, was driving home from work at the t...

'Speedballs' and 'goofballs' prove deadly in San Francisco

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Fentanyl continues to be the number one cause of drug related deaths in San Francisco. But in the majority of those deaths, the drug is mixed with a stimulant like cocaine--to make "speedballs"-- or meth--to make "goofballs."Those terms aren't new to those familiar with drug addiction, but the addition of fentanyl is. The deadly drug caused a huge spike in deaths during the start of the pandemic and there’s been very little improvement.Drug addiction in San Francisco isn’t easy to solve, but it is easy to see. Tom Wolf is currently in recovery from drug addiction and says "speedballs" aren’t uncommon on the streets.“The idea behind that is people use the stimulant in the hopes that they won’t overdose or die from using the fentanyl, or they do it because they like the experience of feeling both wired and down and out at the same time," Wolf told KRON4.According to the San Francisco Department of Public Health, "speedball" deaths are still happening. Officials...

Hero teachers save choking student at North Bay school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

TIBURON, Calif. (KRON) – Some fast thinking and good training likely saved a child’s life in the North Bay. When a seemingly normal lunch break turned into a choking incident, St. Hilary School staff sprung into action.  “I didn’t think much about it at first,” said St. Hilary teacher Tikiya Stewart. “I think I was in shock, but they said you saved a child’s life, and I feel really good about that.”Stewart, known as Kiki at St. Hilary School in Tiburon, says she was on yard duty as usual on Monday. But then the unexpected happened – a child couldn’t breathe because she was choking on her lunch. Three SF restaurants added to Michelin Guide “Some of the kids, at first I was a little skeptical, I mean kids kid all the time,” Stewart said. “But then I was like, ‘This is real.’” Stewart says she didn’t hesitate and stepped in, performing the Heimlich Maneuver. Dr. Marie Bordeleau, the school’s principal, says in her tenure she has focused on emergency preparedness. Agencies l...

Police officers posted at Santa Rosa schools after violence flares between students

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

(KRON) -- Police officers will be present on several Santa Rosa school campuses to provide security leading up to winter break.On Monday, Santa Rosa Police Department officers were posted on the campuses of five high schools and five middle schools. They will remain on-duty while classes are in session until schools close for winter break. SRPD said it deployed the officers at the request of Anna Trunnell, superintendent of Santa Rosa City Schools. There have been several troubling incidents of violence flaring between students this year, including a homicide at Montgomery High School and a recent classroom fight at Herbert Slater Middle School."When the request was made for officers to have a presence on campus for this short time period, we quickly selected five officers based on their desire to participate, prior relationships with school staff and students, and other special skills and training that would greatly benefit the students, staff, and families," SRPD wrote. Officer Lu...

Estas señales de alarma predicen la probabilidad de que una pareja se torne abusiva, según estudio

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

(CNN) — En los primeros días de una relación, la pasión puede hacer que alguien atribuya el comportamiento cuestionable de su nueva pareja a un mal día. Y, con demasiada frecuencia, lo que una persona descarta como algo sin importancia puede convertirse en un trato abusivo que la haga sentirse desesperada por dejar la relación, pero atrapada porque ha invertido mucho.Por este motivo, investigadores de la Universidad de Western Ontario (Canadá) se propusieron averiguar si existen indicadores que precedan y predigan de forma fiable la violencia de pareja, es decir, la violencia física, sexual o psicológica ejercida por las personas hacia sus parejas románticas, según un estudio publicado este lunes en la revista académica Social Psychological and Personality Science.“Se trata de uno de los primeros estudios que identifican comportamientos que predicen el maltrato pero que no son en sí mismos abusivos”, afirma la autora principal del estudio, la Dra. Nicolyn Charlot, ...

Commissioners in a Montana county remove election oversight from fellow Republican

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

A Montana clerk and recorder who expressed doubt about the integrity of the election process during her 2022 campaign lost her election oversight duties on Tuesday in a vote by county commissioners, reflecting some of the turmoil nationwide since conspiracy theories spread about the 2020 presidential election.Hundreds of people attended the meeting at the Cascade County fairgrounds, and nearly 100 testified either in person or online. More than half the speakers supported Sandra Merchant continuing to oversee elections, at least until her four-year term was up in January 2027. However, one person brought in a petition with 300 signatures in favor of a motion to transfer the election oversight to an appointed county employee, and the school district asked the county to remove election duties from the clerk and recorder’s office after issues with the school board election this year.Commissioners Joe Briggs, James Larson and Rae Grulkowski and the clerk are Republicans. Briggs an...

Zaidi: Giants made comparable offer to $700M deal Shohei Ohtani received from rival Dodgers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:36:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants made three offers to Shohei Ohtani, including a final proposal that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi called “very comparable if not identical” to the record $700 million, 10-year contract the Japanese two-way star agreed to with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani spent two hours with the Giants for a ballpark meeting with Zaidi, Greg Johnson, former catcher Buster Posey and new manager Bob Melvin on Dec. 2. Zaidi said San Francisco increased its offers to meet Ohtani’s requests. “The proposal that was made was very comparable if not identical to what he wound up agreeing to,” Zaidi said during a conference call Tuesday.But when the Giants got the sense Ohtani seemed to want to stay in Southern California, Zaidi said there was a realization it might be a hard agreement to make happen despite the proposed financial commitment. Also, San Francisco’s executives hadn’t heard anything a couple of d...