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SFO becomes first US airport to formally launch airplane wastewater testing for emerging COVID variants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:14 GMT

San Francisco International Airport has launched a program with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to test wastewater from airplanes for traces of emerging coronavirus variants. Traces of the virus that causes Covid-19 can be detected in people’s feces when they are infected, even if they don’t have symptoms.The airport announced Tuesday that the CDC’s partner Concentric by Ginkgo, the biosecurity and public health unit of Boston-based synthetic biology company Ginkgo Bioworks, has installed an automatic device that will regularly collect wastewater samples from various international flights arriving at SFO. Those combined samples of wastewater then will be sent to laboratories for testing.“As we know from the COVID-19 pandemic, pathogens can spread quickly across the globe, impacting travel and trade,” Dr. Cindy Friedman, chief of the CDC’s Travelers’ Health Branch, said in a news release Tuesday. “Testing of airplane wastewater can provide early detection of new COV...

Mom who wrote kids’ book about death is charged with husband’s murder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:14 GMT

A young Utah mother who wrote a children’s book about grief after her husband died last year has been accused of his murder.Kouri Darden Richins, 33, faces charges of aggravated murder and multiple drug offenses, say documents filed Monday by prosecutors in Summit County and unsealed after her arrest that day.Her husband, Eric Richins, was found dead at the family’s Francis home on March 4, 2022, at the age of 39. The autopsy found five times the lethal level of fentanyl in his system, the documents say.According to prosecutors, Kouri Richins had obtained strong painkillers from an acquaintance — initially hydrocodone and then fentanyl, after she requested “the Michael Jackson stuff,” the dealer reportedly told investigators.The Amazon listing of the children’s book Kouri Richins wrote. (Image from Amazon) Barely two weeks before his death, when he became sick after a Valentine’s Day dinner, Richins told a friend he thought his wife was...

Brentwood police release video confirming hostage was struck by officer’s bullet during shootout with kidnapping suspect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:14 GMT

Brentwood police have released a video showing a city police officer shooting at a man who’d already fired a pistol at two other officers, and authorities now acknowledge that both the suspect and the woman he was holding hostage were struck by the officer’s gunfire.The video of the March 12 incident, released in an edited form Tuesday, shows Brentwood police Officer Jordan Sares firing at 30-year-old Joshua Dion Smith while running toward Smith, as he stands in a dimly lit entrance to an apartment on Sycamore Avenue in Brentwood. The video shows Smith was using the woman as a human shield as he fired at two officers moments before Sares came face to face with him and fired one round in their direction.The bullet fired by Sares hit a staircase handrail and broke up into smaller pieces, which struck both Smith and the woman. Afterward, the two fell to the ground, causing Smith to drop the gun. Officer then rushed in to arrest him.None of the officers were struck by gunfir...

Biden, congressional leaders meet to avert US default

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:14 GMT

By Zeke Miller, Seung Min Kim, Josh Boak and Lisa Mascaro | Associated PressWASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and congressional leaders are holding their first in-person meeting Tuesday to try to avert an unprecedented U.S. government default.The president welcomed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Oval Office. Their initial challenge on Tuesday is to agree on what exactly they’re talking about as they hold their first substantive meeting in months.With the government at risk of being unable to meet its obligations as soon as June 1, raising the specter of economic chaos, Republicans are coming to the White House hoping to negotiate sweeping cuts to federal spending in exchange for allowing new borrowing to avoid default.Biden, on the other hand, is set to reinforce his opposition to allowing the country’s full faith and credit to be held “hostageR...

Kurtenbach: Does the Warriors’ star trio have another magical playoff run to make?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:14 GMT

LOS ANGELES — The partnership of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green transformed the Warriors’ organization and the league.But now they’re facing something even more powerful than their NBA rivals:Their own basketball mortality.The Warriors rode those Hall of Famers to incredible heights. But one more loss could bring a giant fall.So do the Warriors’ Big Three – each pulling his own weight – have one more incredible run in them?Nothing less than that will do now that they’re down 3-1 to the Lakers.This is a new feeling for the Warriors, who have not lost a Western Conference playoff series since 2014 and are undefeated in the conference playoffs under coach Steve Kerr.They know how to beat LA. They just can’t seem to do it.Aging is ruthless.And yet, the Warriors’ problems are more complicated than that. There have been stretches in this series where the Dubs’ quality is undeniable. They won Game 2 by 27 points.But those bursts havenR...

As drought grips Spain, dozens arrested for illegal wells

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:14 GMT

By Al Goodman | CNNSpanish police have arrested 26 people in recent months for an alleged scheme to use water from illegal wells to grow subtropical fruit, as the country grapples with damaging heat and drought.A Spanish Civil Guard statement said a four-year investigation had uncovered 250 illegal wells and ponds in the in a drought-stricken area Axarquia district east of Malaga, along the Mediterranean coast.In addition to the dozens arrested, 44 people are under investigation in the alleged scheme, which is estimated to have caused nearly $11 million in damages.The southern Andalusia regional government has strict water use restrictions for the area, which has been gripped by “a prolonged and exceptional drought” since June 2021.More recently, key food producing regions of southern Spain, near Seville and Corboda, and in northeastern Spain near Barcelona, have seen low rainfall and high temperatures combine to diminish many local water reservoirs, the Spanish central ...

Why aren't people riding BART? Hint: It's not remote work.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:14 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- On Tuesday morning, the Bay Area Council revealed the results of a new survey about BART. The transit agency has struggled with low ridership and safety concerns since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic three years ago.BART ridership is down by about 60% and the Bay Area Council, which helped create BART in the 1950s, wanted to know what it would take to get riders back on board. Man who allegedly used clock to record women while they were changing charged by SF DA Over the past few months, the Bay Area Council conducted interviews with 1,000 people from around the Bay Area, asking a wide variety of question about BART. What they found is that the public has an evenly split opinion of the transit system with 49% viewing it favorably and 49% having a negative opinion.One of the survey's most revealing takeaways was that remote work was not the main reason most respondents said they were not riding. The survey found that it's primarily safety and securi...

Martinez Amtrak station still closed; mercury spill larger than first thought

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:14 GMT

A mercury spill that closed the Amtrak station in Martinez on Monday was bigger than initially thought and may have spread to the platform and inside the train station, officials from Contra Costa Health (CCH) told the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The station remains closed as of midday Tuesday and Amtrak is using the old train station a few blocks away at Ferry Street and Marina Vista Avenue. Man who allegedly used clock to record women while they were changing charged by SF DA CCH deputy director Matt Kaufmann said the county is bringing in a contractor later Tuesday to help with the cleanup. County officials initially estimate there was a pound to 1.5 pounds of mercury spilled. "We have not confirmed that (amount)," Kaufmann said. "What we can say is we are able to monitor for mercury in the air, which is really the primary concern. What we have found is about 1,000 times less than it would be to be considered immediately dangerous to life and health." Kauf...

Ecuador legislature moves forward on president’s impeachment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:14 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s opposition-led National Assembly voted Tuesday to move forward with impeachment proceedings against President Guillermo Lasso over embezzlement allegations, while his defense team argued that the procedure violated the legislative body’s own rules.The vote to move forward with the impeachment process required a majority of lawmakers present, and 88 of the 116 lawmakers at the session voted in favor. The debate came three days after a majority-led legislative committee declined to adopt a report produced by its own members that had cleared Lasso of the allegations.Assemblywoman Viviana Veloz, a member of the opposition, urged lawmakers to allow the process to continue “so that once and for all, it is absolutely clear, this trial has a political nature.”Tuesday’s vote means that Lasso’s accusers and his defense will be allowed to present evidence before the National Assembly. To remove the president, at least 92 of the Assembly’s 137 members...

Airbnb posts $117 million 1Q profit as revenue grows by 20%

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:14 GMT

Airbnb said Tuesday that it earned $117 million in the first quarter, as rentals and revenue jumped again during an ongoing recovery in travel and a trend of more people working remotely.It was the first time that the short-term rental giant earned a profit in the first three months of the year, a seasonally slow period for travel. The San Francisco-based company’s profit compared with a loss of $19 million a year earlier and worked out to 18 cents per share.Revenue climbed 20% to $1.82 billion, beating Wall Street’s forecast of $1.79 billion, according to a FactSet survey.Nights and experiences booked, a closely watched measurement for Airbnb, increased 19% to 121 million, and the company valued the bookings made in the quarter at $20.4 billion, a 19% increase.In a letter to shareholders, Airbnb said its revenue and the gross value of bookings are both double what they were before the pandemic.Airbnb is getting a lift from people who are traveling while they take advant...