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Explainer: Why is the GOP attacking the FBI director?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

By Farnoush Amiri and Eric Tucker | Associated PressWASHINGTON — The yearslong feud between congressional Republicans and the FBI is reaching a new level of rancor as lawmakers prepare a resolution to hold bureau director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress.Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has scheduled a committee vote for Thursday morning on the contempt resolution against Wray. He says the FBI has failed to comply with a lawful subpoena for an FBI record that documents an unverified tip about President Joe Biden.The resolution to hold Wray in contempt — which would have to be approved by the full House — is just the latest broadside from Republicans against the FBI. They accuse the bureau of harboring bias against conservatives dating back to Donald Trump’s presidency and allege the bureau is now stonewalling legitimate congressional oversight.Release of the document in question, FBI officials have warned, would jeopardize the...

Santa Clara County to expand substance use treatment, distribute naloxone with opioid settlement money

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

With opioid overdoses rising, Santa Clara County is expanding substance abuse support at schools, distributing more naloxone and fentanyl testing strips and boosting youth inpatient treatment using money from a settlement with opioid distributors.In 2014, Santa Clara County became the first jurisdiction to file a lawsuit against major opioid manufacturers for their roles in creating a nationwide opioid epidemic. In July 2021, opioid manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and three major distributors offered up $26 billion to settle more than 3,000 opioid lawsuits across the country.Santa Clara County could be paid up to $48 million over an 18-year period, and so far has received $5.8 million. On Tuesday, the county’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved how to spend some of those dollars to fight the local opioid crisis, with a good chunk of the money going toward youth-based programming.Approximately $1.5 million will go to help expand the School Linked Services Initiativ...

Photos: Bald eagle crashes into home in Palo Alto

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

(KRON) -- A bald eagle recently had an unfortunate run-in with the back patio window of a home in Palo Alto, according to Palo Alto Animal Control. Officers with PA Animal Control got a report late last month of a bald eagle that was injured in the backyard of a home in the Greenmeadow neighborhood."The officers thought that surely the report of an eagle was incorrect, and the bird was most likely a hawk or owl," read a Facebook post from Animal Control.However, when officers were dispatched to the residence they found a 4 to 5-year-old bald eagle that had crashed into the home's back patio window and was sitting in the side yard. The bird had stunned himself and was recuperating when officers arrived, according to Animal Control. What happened to Frank Somerville? A timeline of events "The eagle also appeared to be partially covered in baylands mud, so we could tell he was not having the best day," the post continued.The exterior pane of the window had been shattered by the impac...

A's stadium funding set for special session as Nevada Legislature meets in Carson City

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) -- The A's stadium has the full attention of Nevada lawmakers as a special session begins today in Carson City.Gov. Joe Lombardo issued a proclamation after last night's special session finished, ordering the Nevada Legislature to take up the funding plan for the stadium, which is planned at the site of the Tropicana Las Vegas Casino Resort on the Strip. Updates on the special session will be added to this report as the session begins, expected at about noon on Wednesday.Special-Session-Proclamation_June-7-2023Download

Power out in part of Pinole after truck takes out power pole

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

(KRON) -- Electricity is out in the area around Ramona Street between Carmelita Way and Higuera Avenue in Pinole after a truck crashed into a power pole, according to the Pinole Police Department. The crash took down several power poles, resulting in the power going out.Ramona Street is closed between Carmelita Way and Higuera Avenue. There is no ETA for when the roadway will reopen or when power will be restored. No injuries have been reported as a result of the crash.

North Carolina lawmakers approve sports and horse-race gambling, bill now heading to governor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina General Assembly finalized legislation Wednesday to authorize statewide and regulate sports and horse-race wagering, a decision poised to open the nation’s ninth-largest state to more legal gambling options. The House voted 68-45 for changes completed last week by the Senate to the bill. It now goes to Gov. Roy Cooper, who again this week expressed support for legalized sports gambling. The Democrat is expected to sign the measure, which would offer online betting on professional, college and Olympic-style sports and some in-person betting to adults 21 and over starting in the next six to 12 months.House members tentatively voted for the Senate version of the bill on Tuesday after no debate. Anti-gambling forces made one last stand Wednesday seeking to block the proposal, which they were successful in doing to a similar bill nearly a year ago in the chamber. But lawmakers who opposed the bill in 2022 were no longer in the House as the ne...

Bronze statue of noted American author Willa Cather unveiled in US Capitol

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Willa Cather, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author renowned for her portrayal of the lives of pioneer settlers in the U.S. Heartland, was honored Wednesday with the unveiling of a bronze statue in her likeness in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall.The statue’s creator, Littleton Alston, a professor of sculpture at Creighton University, is the first Black artist to have work represented in the national collection.Cather, whose works include “My Ántonia” and “O Pioneers,” spent her young years in Red Cloud, Nebraska, and graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1895. She won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel “One of Ours.”U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, a Republican from Nebraska, noted that Cather was a trailblazer in the literary world who has earned a lasting place among the great American writers.And U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska said Cather’s fiction “truly feels like it grew from the soil of Nebraska.”“For decades until her death i...

BBC, British Airways, Novia Scotia among first big-name victims in global supply-chain hack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

U.S. and British cybersecurity officials warned Wednesday that a Russian cyber-extortion gang’s hack of a file-transfer program popular with corporations could have widespread global impact. Initial data-theft victims include the BBC, British Airways and Nova Scotia’s government.“This is potentially one of the most significant breaches of recent years,” said Brett Callow, an analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. “We’ll have a better sense of how significant it is as more details emerge about the number and type of organizations impacted.”The Cl0p ransomware syndicate announced on its dark web site late Tuesday that its victims — who it suggests number in the hundreds — had until June 14 to get in touch to negotiate a ransom or risk having sensitive stolen data dumped online. The exploited program, MOVEit, is widely used by businesses to securely share files. The parent company of its U.S. maker, Progress Software, alerted customers to the breach on May 31 and issue...

No longer the ‘sport of kings,’ horse racing is facing challenges in its long evolution

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

When the crowd roared to a fever pitch at the 2015 Belmont Stakes to celebrate American Pharoah becoming the first Triple Crown winner in nearly four decades, the scene was a throwback to the days when it was common for the grandstand to be full and horse racing was squarely in the spotlight.The moment was fleeting, as it was when Justify won the Triple Crown three years later. The joy of such a lofty accomplishment — the Triple Crown has been just 12 times since the first one in 1919 — was soon replaced by headlines mostly for the bad: Bob Baffert’s 2021 Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, failing a postrace drug test and the Hall of Fame trainer being suspended. Disturbing clusters of horse deaths — at Santa Anita in 2019 and most recently 12 more at Churchill Downs, prompting the storied track to close to investigate.Known in its heyday as the “Sport of Kings” when the likes of Seabiscuit, Man o’ War and Secretariat were stars featured first newspapers and radio rep...

County leaders in Georgia reject election board nominee who challenged voters’ eligibility

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:13 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Elected leaders in Georgia’s most populous county — a Democratic stronghold — on Wednesday rejected a Republican nominee for the county elections board who had challenged the eligibility of thousands of voters.The Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to reject Jason Frazier, one of two nominees put forth by the county Republican Party for a seat on the county Board of Registration and Elections. The commissioners voted 7-0 to approve the appointment of the other Republican nominee, Mike Heekin, as well as the reappointment of two Democratic nominees, Teresa Smith Crawford and Aaron Johnson, for two-year terms that begin July 1.Fulton County has a history of election problems, including long lines to vote and delays in reporting results. After a particularly troubled primary in 2020, an independent monitor was appointed to observe the general election that year as part of a consent agreement between the county and the State Election Board. The monitor s...