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How many people will ride BART through San Jose? The answer could define South Bay transit, but nobody knows

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:00:06 GMT

One of the country’s largest infrastructure projects, bringing BART trains zooming through downtown San Jose, is inching closer to reality. But the number of people who will actually ride the extension — and its future as a linchpin for regional travel — is increasingly murky.A newly released ridership forecast estimates a 40% nosedive in passengers from local transit planners’ previous projections for BART’s South Bay extension. Instead of 54,600 riders boarding trains daily on their way to buzzing office towers and San Jose State University in 2040, a new federally-mandated forecast estimates 32,900 boardings.It’s a gut punch for the long-awaited BART extension, which could set up a showdown over funding South Bay bus and BART services if the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which is building the project, is not able to find a new taxpayer subsidy in the coming years to keep BART trains running. And this latest ridership forecast may...

Skelton: Newsom shouldn’t shy away from State of the State speech

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:00:06 GMT

Gov. Gavin Newsom insists his presidential ambitions are “subzero,” and I believe him. As president, he probably couldn’t avoid giving a State of the Union speech before Congress. And he’d hate that.OK, I don’t really know Newsom’s innermost thoughts about running for president. I only know what he has consistently said publicly: He’s not interested. But does that apply just to 2024 or also beyond?The 55-year-old Democrat must enjoy being mentioned as a top-tier potential candidate. Any politician would. And he’s clearly trying to be viewed as a national political leader promoting progressive causes.But it’s a good guess that Newsom looks at certain presidential duties — such as all the speechmaking, especially the annual State of the Union address — and winces. Reading speeches — reading practically anything — is difficult for the governor because of the dyslexia he has struggled with all his life.“I’m just mesmerized by the politicians that are literally handed a script or talking...

DA: Northern California suspect accused of killing man found in shopping cart arrested while allegedly trying to kill woman

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:00:06 GMT

CHICO — A man was charged Monday with the killing of 61-year-old Daniel Niles after Niles’ body was found wrapped in plastic in a shopping cart on March 12.Timothy Wayne Wiechert, 48, of Chico is believed by the Butte County District Attorney’s Office to have killed Niles. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a 28-year-old woman on March 12.Wiechert District Attorney Mike Ramsey said the two cases appear to be linked as Wiechert, the woman and Niles were all homeless and staying in the area near FoodMaxx where the incidents occurred.According to a press release issued Monday by the DA’s Office, a resident on Chandese Lane in Chico came home to find an unknown pickup in her driveway and upon further inspection found a man strangling a woman on the ground in the driveway who was identified as Wiechert. A neighbor attempted to get the man off of her by use of a baseball bat.Officers arrived at the scene and arrested Wiechert. The pickup in the driveway was allegedly...

John Wayne’s former 2,000-acre California ranch seeks $12 million

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:00:06 GMT

Western film star John Wayne’s former 2,000-acre ranch in Hemet seeks $12 million. (Composite by Sandra Barrera, Southern California News Group; Inset: Associated Press file photo; Landscape: stunningphotography.com)View from the veranda. (Photo by StunningPhotography.com)The stucco house. (Photo by StunningPhotography.com)A swing hangs from the branch of an oak tree on the Hemet ranch, once owned by Hollywood icon John Wayne. (Photo by StunningPhotography.com)Show Caption of ExpandA sprawling Riverside County ranch once owned by Western film star John Wayne is on the market for $12 million.Called “Rancho Pavoreal,” the rural 2,000-acre spread is in Hemet’s Sage neighborhood within a 20-minute drive from Temecula Valley wineries.The Hollywood legend known as The Duke and a partner owned the ranch from 1938 to 1948, when it was sold, according to a 1993 California Department of Forestry archeological report. Realtor.com reported in 2000 that Wayne owned it in the 1970s, adding...

Opinion: AI is about to transform childhood in a big way. Are we ready?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:00:06 GMT

With the introduction of GPT-4 and Claude, AI has taken another big step forward. GPT-4 is human-level or better at many hard tasks, a huge improvement over GPT-3.5, which was released only a few months ago. Yet amid the debate over these advances, there has been very little discussion of one of the most profound effects of AI large language models: how they will reshape childhood.In the future, every middle-class kid will grow up with a personalized AI assistant — so long as the parents are OK with that.Having an AI service for your child will be as normal as having a pet, except the AI service will never bite. It will be carried around in something like a tablet, though with a design that is oriented toward the AI.Recent developments suggest that AI models can be both commoditized and customized more easily and cheaply than expected. So parents will be able to choose what kind of companion they want their kids to have — in contrast to the free-for-all of the internet. The availabl...

Opinion: Feds’ Tesla recall doesn’t go far enough, California must act

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:00:06 GMT

California leaders needs to do what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration so far failed to achieve: Keep Californians safe from Tesla’s flawed Full Self-Driving beta software.A nationwide recall of 362,758 Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving, or FSD, software didn’t go far enough. Worse, NHTSA has been handling Tesla with kid gloves.Specifically, the recall indicated that the software may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane; entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop; or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution. The vehicle may respond insufficiently to changes in posted speed limits. And the FSD software does not adequately account for the driver’s adjustment of the vehicle’s speed to exceed posted speed limits.Still, numerous issues remain with the recall:• Teslas with FSD softwar...

Elias: Supreme Court case in works may cancel California’s EV mandates

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:00:06 GMT

California government bureaucrats call it the “Advanced Clean Car II Rule,” last August’s update to the state’s prior edict mandating that all new cars sold here be all-electric or plug-in hybrids by 2035. Between now and then, other benchmarks are also to be set, starting with 35% of new cars sold being electric vehicles (EVs) starting in 2026, just three years from today.Related ArticlesLocal Opinion | Opinion: Senior year is a costly high school rite of passage Local Opinion | Elias: California’s fentanyl death rate likely rising due to mislabeled pills Local Opinion | Elias: California’s transit budget cut makes sense in light of numbers Local Opinion | Elias: Six other states ganging up on California over Colorado River water Local Opinion | Elias: California’s slavery reparations plan won’t sell if it lacks credibility Since the rule passed, it’s been a theme for folks who l...

Correction: Britain-Russia-Ukraine story

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:00:06 GMT

LONDON (AP) — In a story published on March 20, 2023, about millions in extra funding pledged to support war crimes investigations in Ukraine by the International Criminal Court, The Associated Press erroneously reported that former Liberian President Charles Taylor was convicted by the ICC. He was convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.Source

Paul Newman’s camp for sick kids rises from the ashes

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:00:06 GMT

ASHFORD, Conn. (AP) — Amarey Brookshire was devastated when she heard about the fire at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for seriously ill children — her camp.The February 2021 blaze destroyed much of the retreat in the woods of eastern Connecticut, which was founded by the late actor Paul Newman in 1988 to give children with devastating medical conditions a place to, as he said, “raise a little hell.” The blaze burned the center of the camp, which had been made to look like an Old West town and housed the woodworking shop, the arts and crafts area, the camp store, and an educational kitchen. Fire investigators determined it was not arson but could not pinpoint a cause. Amarey, now 13, said she was in the hospital when her mom told her the news.“She told me that it was the arts and crafts and the wood shop area, so I was really sad because I love doing wood shop and like the arts and crafts,” she said. “I was really sad.”Amarey, who has sickle cell disease, thought about friends she m...

Thailand sets May 14 election, populist party tops polls

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 16:00:06 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s general election will take place on May 14, the country’s election regulator said Tuesday, one day after the dissolution of Parliament initiated by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is seeking a fresh term. The Election Commission said registration of candidates would begin April 3.The election will pit the popular opposition Pheu Thai party, backed by billionaire populist Thaksin Shinawatra, against parties representing the conservative establishment and closely linked to the military, which has staged two coups in the last two decades. Other parties are likely to win enough seats to be wooed to join a coalition government.Prayuth dissolved Parliament just ahead of the end of the four-year term of the House of Representatives. Early dissolution allows candidates for the lower house to switch party affiliations just 30 days before the election, instead of the usual 90 days. Parties led and backed by Thaksin have won the most seats in every election sinc...