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Restored Delta tidal marsh fights climate change and attracts wildlife, native species

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:52 GMT

Once eyed for thousands of homes, the recently restored Dutch Slough tidal marsh in east Contra Costa County is already flourishing as a new habitat for fish and wildlife, a living laboratory for scientists and one of the world’s strongest sinks for absorbing and storing carbon long-term.Led by the state Department of Water Resources, the ambitious $73 million project to restore 1,187 acres of freshwater Delta tidal wetlands near Oakley – one of the largest such projects in the state – is a little more than half finished. When it is completed, the scientists are hoping it will become a model for future restoration projects, climate change defenses and scientific research.“It’s taking in carbon at a rate compared to the top 1 percentile (of all ecosystems) in the world (annually),” said Katie Bandy, the department’s Dutch Slough Tidal Marsh Restoration project manager. “It’s taking in a lot more carbon than other land is producing.”That’s important, because many scientists beli...

Opinion: California lawmakers should reject last-minute insurance scheme

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:52 GMT

Insurance lobbyists are scheming with Sacramento officials to neuter the consumer protections of insurance reform Proposition 103 as part of a last-minute industry bailout that will cost California homeowners, renters and condo owners potentially thousands of dollars every year.Proposition 103, approved by California voters in 1988 after a David vs. Goliath battle at the ballot box, bars insurance price-gouging. Companies must prove that the premiums they want to charge are necessary to cover projected claims, reasonable expenses and a fair profit. Unique in the nation, the initiative has saved Californians hundreds of dollars annually on their auto and property insurance — which is why the insurance industry badly wants to derail it.The deal being brokered in Sacramento would also bail insurers out of their responsibilities under the California FAIR Plan. That’s a state-created, but industry-controlled, operation through which people who aren’t able to purchase coverage from ...

San Jose hotel project site heads for real estate auction, foreclosure

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:52 GMT

SAN JOSE — A lender has scheduled a property auction and foreclosure proceeding for a San Jose site where a hotel of more than 100 rooms was proposed but never built.North Star Hotel Development, which also operates as North Star Development, had proposed the hotel project on land it bought in 2019, according to Santa Clara County property records.The developer and property owner had pitched a 132-room, four-story at the development site, which is at 1510 South De Anza Boulevard in San Jose, city planning and county real estate documents show.132-room, four-story hotel at 1510 South De Anza Boulevard in San Jose, concept. (Lowney Architecture)The 0.9-acre development site is at the corner of South De Anza Boulevard and Sharon Drive.Acting through an affiliate, Northstar Hotel Development paid $6.5 million for the San Jose site in the 2019 transaction, according to a real estate database.In May, the property tumbled into a default on its loan, which totals slightly less th...

Things are looking good’ for crews fighting several Northern California wildfires

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:52 GMT

Several fires in Humboldt County largely impacting the Hoopa and Orleans areas are in various stages of containment ranging from completely contained, to almost, to not very.Fires from the Six Rivers Forest Lightning Complex that ignited Aug. 15 following a lightning storm, have created warnings for roughly 243 residents around the Orleans area as of the Times-Standard’s print deadline, but some of the warnings should cease very soon, a spokesperson with the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team One said.“At this point, it’s not looking like there’s any immediate risk or threat to those communities,” Brenda Bowen, the spokesperson with the management team, said. “Certainly, we could get more lightning and a new condition that would impact something that we don’t know as of right now, if there were a new (fire) start, but with everything that’s going on right now, everything is looking pretty good.”The largest and least-contained blaze in the complex is the Pearch Fire spre...

Walters: California students among nation’s worst for math and language

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:52 GMT

Gov. Gavin Newsom and other political figures like to brag about California’s role as a national or even international leader in all things wonderful.They tend, however, to gloss over or ignore indications that California is falling short in some very important indices of societal achievement, such as public education.When measured against other states, much less other nations, California’s nearly 6 million public school students rank among the lowest in national education testing for mathematics and language skills.The latest round of National Assessment of Educational Progress test results, released last fall, revealed that California’s fourth- and eighth-graders were once again in the bottom tier of states in reading and math.Moreover, California’s unusually long school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced achievement even more, as a recent report from the Public Policy Institute of California revealed.Before the pandemic, 51% of students met standards in English languag...

Happy Wanderer: Timber Cove Resort, Sonoma County coast dazzling

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:52 GMT

Fourteen miles north of Jenner in Sonoma County, there’s a stretch of coast so stunning that Ansel Adams would spend hours on it just sitting on the cliffs above the crashing surf.The landmark Timber Cove Resort is celebrating its 60th anniversary, and Ansel Adams’ longtime assistant, Mary Alinder, above, shared some of his beloved photographs in a talk she gave at the inn earlier this summer. (Ginny Prior — for Bay Area News Group) The beloved photographer was friends with the visionary who built Timber Cove Resort, the iconic lodge perched above the sea as part of the Timber Cove development. The landmark inn is celebrating its 60th anniversary and Adams longtime assistant, Mary Alinder, shared some of his beloved photographs in a talk she gave earlier this summer.“Ansel came here more than once and would just go sit on the bluff,” she says, adding that the landscape had a place in his soul.The same soul-stirring scenery draws visitors to the Timber Cove Resort today, with it...

2 men shot in SJ, police pursue suspects in chase

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:52 GMT

(KRON) -- Two men are now being hospitalized following a shooting early Wednesday morning in the 160 block of West Alma Avenue, according to the San Jose Police Department. Officer located a possible suspect vehicle in connection to the shooting that occurred around 1:12 a.m. The suspect car then fled police and led them onto a pursuit outside the city, SJPD said. Multiple people have been taken into custody in connection to the shooting. The two men who were shot were taken to local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries, police said. A firearm was located by SJPD. The businesses nearby where the shooting occurred include an alteration shop, a convenience store and a bar.Police advise the public to avoid the area and expect traffic delays.This investigation remains open and active. This is a developing story. Stick with us for updates.

Ukrainian prime minister says at least 16 people were killed and 20 wounded in Russian shelling of a market in east

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:52 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian prime minister says at least 16 people were killed and 20 wounded in Russian shelling of a market in east.Source

3 arrested in Southwest DC shooting that killed 1 man, injured 5

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:52 GMT

Police outside the apartment where the shooting took place in Southwest D.C. (WTOP/Sandra Jones)Three people have been arrested in connection with a shooting Tuesday afternoon in Southwest D.C. that killed a man, left four people suffering from gunshot wounds and injured another man, according to D.C. police.In a social media post Wednesday morning, D.C. police said all three people were charged with first-degree murder with armed (felony murder).Assistant Chief Carlos Heraud said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon that officers responded to the shooting at around 4:15 p.m. at a residence on the 200 block of M Street SW, a few blocks west of Nationals Park. Officers found two men with gunshot wounds at the scene.“Once again, this investigation is very early,” Heraud said. “What we do know is that it appears all the parties involved, or all the parties I have mentioned thus far, know each other in some way, shape or form.”One man was pronounced dead at...

The Chiefs have won 8 straight season openers. They have a ways to go to catch the longest streak

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:12:52 GMT

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have been fast starters to the NFL season.The defending-champion Chiefs head into their opener Thursday night at home against Detroit having won eight straight regular-season openers, which is tied for the fifth longest streak of the Super Bowl era.Kansas City last lost in Week 1 back in 2014 with Alex Smith at quarterback when they fell 26-10 to Tennessee in a game played before Mahomes had even made his college debut at Texas Tech.They won the next three openers with Smith at QB and then all five since Mahomes became the starter, scoring at least 33 points in the last seven Week 1 games. They have a long way to go to catch the longest streak ever as the Cowboys won 17 straight openers between 1965-81. The last team to win more than eight straight was the New England Patriots, who won 10 in a row from 2004-13.Mahomes has been particularly sharp to start the season, throwing at least three TD passes in all five season-opening starts in his ...