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Skelton: Buried fees in Newsom’s budget, but no major tax increase

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:18 GMT

If you’re a California boater, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants you to pay the state more and get less in return.That’s one very small item tucked into the governor’s massive, revised $307-billion state budget proposal for the fiscal year starting July 1.It begs the question: How many other little goodies affecting people are buried somewhere in the sprawling budget proposal?Another example:Newsom deserves credit for this one. He wants to increase benefits for the aged, blind and disabled, who historically have gotten the shaft whenever a governor pulls out his budget-cutting knife.These mostly impoverished people are among the weakest politically in the state Capitol. Powerful unions or business groups aren’t fighting for them.But first about the slap at recreational boaters.OK, I admit to being biased because I’ve been hooked on powerboats since age 14.There are 2.6 million recreational boats in California and more than 4 million boaters, according to the state Division of Boating and Wate...

Searching for coronavirus, Marin County wastewater tests detect ‘tranq’ drug

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:18 GMT

Xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer that is increasingly being mixed with fentanyl, heroin and other illicit drugs, has been detected in Marin County’s wastewater.Although xylazine, also known as “tranq,” use has been common on the East Coast for some time, this is the first positive evidence of its presence in Marin. Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County’s public health officer, made the announcement in a recent update on levels of COVID-19 infection in Marin.Since most people now rely on at-home antigen tests to determine if they’re infected, instead of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test that must be processed through a lab, health officials have come to rely on wastewater testing to determine infection levels in their communities.“We have almost no visibility on transmission through test results,” Willis said. “We estimate that less than 5% of our cases are getting reported.”The amount of virus in Marin’s wastewater is fairly low — about the same as it was a year ago, although not as...

Authorities ID man killed in Highway 1 cliff crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:18 GMT

SWANTON — A driver killed Friday afternoon when his vehicle went over a coastal Highway 1 cliff has been identified as a 28-year-old Texas man.The Santa Cruz County Coroner’s Office said the man was Connor Joseph Masarich, of Dallas.Masarich was northbound  on Highway 1 about a mile north of Scotts Creek Bridge when he allowed the 2017 Subaru Outback he was driving to travel off the road, according to the California Highway Patrol.The car overturned several times down a steep cliff and landed on the beach below, partially submerged in the water. Masarich was pronounced dead at the scene. Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Mercury spill near Martinez train station now in isolated areas only Crashes and Disasters | San Jose: Tow truck driver killed while in Highway 101 lanes, suspect driver did not stop Crashes and Disasters | 3 in California family dead, 6 injured in crash on 10 Freeway Crashes and Disasters | San Jose: ...

San Jose woman killed in Watsonville motorcycle crash ID’d

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:18 GMT

WATSONVILLE — The Santa Cruz County Coroner’s Office has identified the motorcyclist killed in a crash early this month on Carlton Road.Jacqueline Bischof, 30, of San Jose, was riding in the agricultural area around 3:30 p.m. on May 8 when her 2023 Honda CBR600RR racing bike went down for an unknown reason and slid into the path of a semi-truck. The California Highway Patrol had not determined a reason for the crash.Bischof, suffering from major injuries, died at the scene. Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Mercury spill near Martinez train station now in isolated areas only Crashes and Disasters | San Jose: Tow truck driver killed while in Highway 101 lanes, suspect driver did not stop Crashes and Disasters | 3 in California family dead, 6 injured in crash on 10 Freeway Crashes and Disasters | San Jose: Pedestrian reportedly killed on Highway 101 in hit-and-run Crashes and Disasters | Sunnyvale woman d...

SpaceX hires ex-NASA official Kathy Lueders for key role on Starship program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:18 GMT

Hawthorne-based SpaceX has hired Kathy Lueders, a former NASA associate administrator who recently retired from the space agency, to work on the company’s next-generation Starship program.Lueders is a general manager at Starbase, SpaceX’s launch facility in southern Texas, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing personnel changes.SpaceX both builds and launches its massive deep-space Starship vehicle from the facility.The hiring was reported earlier by CNBC.Prior to joining SpaceX, Lueders spent roughly three decades at NASA, working on both the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station programs.She served as the manager of the Commercial Crew Program, which worked extensively with SpaceX to launch the company’s first human spaceflight missions to the ISS.She also served as NASA’s first female associate administrator for human exploration.Lueders left NASA at the end of last month. When she stepped down, she said on Twitter she ...

Erdogan Arrested and Expelled International Officials Observing Turkish Election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:18 GMT

The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan swept up and jailed a team of international observers on hand to monitor election day activity in Turkey on Sunday, members of the team told The Intercept in a statement. The delegation had not been granted official observer accreditation by the Erdogan government, but were formally invited by the HDP, the leading Kurdish party and a key member of the opposition coalition. The election held on Sunday was the closest contest Erdogan has faced in the two decades he has been in power. Immediately, the opposition coalition, led by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, charged election irregularities, zeroing in on what Kilicdaroglu said was an extremely large number of objections to ballot boxes in Istanbul and Ankara — urban areas where the opposition dominated. “You are blocking the will of Turkey,” Kilicdaroglu said. Erdogan fell short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff, officially winning more than 49.5 percent of the vote with fewer than 100,0...

UK sees record number of people off work due to long-term sickness

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:18 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The number of people in the U.K. not working because of long-term sickness has risen to a record high partly because of ongoing health problems related to the coronavirus pandemic, official figures showed Tuesday. The Office for National Statistics found that 2.55 million people were not able to work in the three months to March, which is over 6% of the country’s working population. That was up nearly 100,000 on the previous quarter.The agency said the pandemic is likely to be one of the main causes for the increase in the number of long-term sick over the past three years or so, including those suffering from long COVID symptoms such as post-viral fatigue. Many young people have also been unable to work because of mental health issues while those suffering from head and neck problems has potentially grown because of the increase in home-working since the coronavirus pandemic. There’s also a backlog of care following the pandemic that will take time to clea...

Auxiliary lane to ease I-95 bottleneck at Occoquan now open

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:18 GMT

The new auxiliary lane on southbound I-95 from Route 123 to Prince William Parkway. (Courtesy InsideNoVa/VDOT)This article was written by WTOP’s news partner, InsideNoVa.com, and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.About a mile and a half of the southbound I-95 right shoulder was converted to a travel lane between the ramp from southbound Route 123 and the ramp to westbound Prince William Parkway.The auxiliary lane aims to make it easier for drivers to merge into and out of traffic between the ramps.Southbound I-95 averages about 80,000 vehicles a day in this area, VDOT said in a news release.“Our team is proud to provide transportation solutions for northern Virginia,” said Bill Cuttler, P.E., VDOT’s Northern Virginia Deputy District Engineer. “This auxiliary ramp will allow drivers to begin exiting one mile earlier, which will make a big difference for drivers caught in southbound congestion.”Construction on the I-95 ...

Novak Djokovic reaches Italian Open quarterfinals for 17th straight year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:18 GMT

ROME (AP) — Novak Djokovic was in command from the start and never really let up in a 6-3, 6-4 win over 13th-seeded Cameron Norrie on Tuesday to reach the Italian Open quarterfinals for the 17th straight year.Aiming for his seventh title on the red clay of the Foro Italico, Djokovic had his entire game clicking after struggling at times in the previous rounds.On an overcast day after it had rained all morning, Djokovic appeared focused from the start.“I actually finished my warmup 10 minutes before I went on the court. So I was rushing a bit with everything but we couldn’t (warm up) earlier because of the rain,” Djokovic said. “So I’m just glad to overcome today’s challenge in straight sets and move on.”Also, Djokovic was seen in the trainer’s room before the match. He recently took three weeks off because of a lingering issue with his surgically repaired right elbow.“Every day is something,” the 35-year-old Djokovic said, without specifying what was bothering him. “But ...

US can pick Folarin Balogun as FIFA approves eligibility change from England

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:13:18 GMT

ZURICH (AP) — The United States can select Folarin Balogun after the England Under-21 forward who has starred in the French league opted to represent the 2026 World Cup co-host.FIFA said on Tuesday it approved a request by the U.S. Soccer Federation to change Balogun’s national eligibility from England. The 21-year-old New York-born player also was eligible for Nigeria.Balogun has been in demand after a breakout season in France on loan to Reims from Arsenal.He has 19 goals and dueled with Kylian Mbappé for part of the season to be the league top scorer. Mbappé now leads with 26 for Paris Saint-Germain.Balogun was born in Brooklyn though his Nigerian parents had been living in London.“My parents were on holiday there for a few months because we have family in New York,” Balogun said in an interview with the French league website this season. “But very soon after I was born, we all moved back to London.”Balogun also acknowledged “London is my city, it’s where I grew up, where m...