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California sues Bay Area crisis pregnancy centers for offering abortion-pill reversal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

California sued Bay Area crisis pregnancy centers Thursday for offering an abortion pill reversal procedure that Attorney General Rob Bonta said is unproven and largely experimental.The lawsuit against Heartbeat International, a national anti-abortion group, and RealOptions Obria, which operates pregnancy centers in San Jose, Oakland, Redwood City and Union City, accuses them of deceptive and fraudulent advertising of the abortion pill reversal procedure in violation of California’s false advertising and unfair competition laws.“Those who are struggling with the complex decision to get an abortion deserve support and trustworthy guidance — not lies and misinformation,” Bonta said. “We are launching today’s lawsuit to put a stop to their predatory and unlawful behavior.”Heartbeat International and RealOptions Obria representatives were not immediately available for comment.Abortion pills have become a central front in the nation’s battl...

San Jose Sharks captain out indefinitely with lower body injury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

SAN JOSE — San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury, putting his availability for the team’s Oct. 12 season-opener with the Vegas Golden Knights into question.Couture said Thursday on the first day of Sharks training camp that the injury didn’t take place at one particular moment, but happened over time earlier this offseason as he began to ramp up his skating for the upcoming year.“It’s not ideal. It sucks,” Couture said. “I wish I was out there with the guys. It’s tough watching. I hate watching. I want to play. I want to be a part of every day the guys are out there. But we are fortunate, I think, that it happened now so I can get back.“Right now we’re not playing yet, so the goal is not to miss any games and that’s all I’m focused on right now.”Asked about potentially missing the season-opener next month against the Golden Knights, the defending Stanley ...

Carbon offsets undercut California’s climate progress, researchers find

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

By Ben Elgin | BloombergSince the passage of its landmark climate regulations 17 years ago, California has been a leader in the fight against global warming. The state reached its 2020 emissions target four years early. It has set a timeline to phase out the sale of gasoline-powered cars, and utilities in the state must get 60% of their electricity from renewable sources by the end of the decade.But for all of California’s progress, some of it is being undercut by a problem with one of the state’s key climate policies, according to a research paper published Thursday.That policy, known as cap and trade, creates a market where the state’s biggest emitters must ratchet down their climate pollution over time or pay others who have more aggressively slashed their emissions. The program also allows companies to meet part of their requirements by purchasing carbon offsets. These credits come from projects around the country that follow the state’s rules, like forests that store extra carb...

Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to financial crimes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

By James Pollard and Jeffrey Collins | Associated PressCHARLESTON, S.C. — Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh did something Thursday he hasn’t done in the two years since his life of privilege and power started to unravel — plead guilty to a crime.Murdaugh admitted in federal court to 22 counts of financial fraud and money laundering.Murdaugh, 55, is serving life without parole in a South Carolina prison for shooting his wife, Maggie, and younger son Paul. He has denied any role in the killings since their deaths in June 2021 and insisted he was innocent in two days of testimony earlier this year before he was convicted of two counts of murder.“There’s two things Alex will tell you. One, he stole the money. Two, he did not kill Maggie and Paul,” defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said after the hearing.The federal guilty plea likely locks in years if not decades in prison for the disbarred lawyer, even if his murder conviction and sentence in state court are over...

Taylor Swift fans help break records on voter registration site

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

Swifties, the Taylor Swift faithful, helped to achieve record-breaking traffic to the Vote.org site after an Instagram post by the singer encouraged fans to register to vote.The Vote.org site saw a 1226 percent jump in registrations, which amounted to 35,000 new registrations on National Voter Registration Day, according to a social media post by Voter.org CEO Andrea Hailey. That’s an average of 13,000 users every 30 minutes.Dear @taylorswift13 – may these stats serve as our love letter to you for amplifying voter voices! With our collective efforts, we achieved:35K+ registrations50K verifications115% in 18yo registrants vs '221.3M+ webpage viewsTogether, we make democracy shine! — Andrea Hailey (@AndreaEHailey) September 20, 2023Related ArticlesEntertainment | Taylor Swift and Sophie Turner’s power dinner adds to Joe Jonas’ woes Entertainment | Ed Sheeran at Levi’s Stadium will be bigger than Taylor Swift, Beyonce ...

SF Giants call in the kids as Brandon Crawford lands on injured list

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Coming to terms with their distant playoff odds, the San Francisco Giants shuffled shortstops Thursday. The kids are in. A short-term rental is out. And the last tether to their World Series era may be on his last legs.Brandon Crawford, the man who has played more games at shortstop than anyone else in the 141-year history of the franchise, may only have one more in him. He was placed on the injured list Thursday, his right hamstring the latest in a line of ailments, and will only be eligible to be activated next Sunday, for the final game of the season, fittingly, against the Dodgers.Splitting duties in his stead will be top prospect Marco Luciano and Tyler Fitzgerald, another young shortstop who has been tearing the cover off the ball all year in Triple-A Sacramento. Fitzgerald, 26, a fourth-round pick in 2019, had to be added to the 40-man roster. Paul DeJong, who batted .184/.180/.286 in 18 games since being picked up last month, was waived to create a spot.Crawfor...

They bought a cheap home in Italy. Then they bought another

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

By Silvia Marchetti | CNNWhen Italian villages started selling houses for the price of a cup of coffee, most foreign buyers rushing to grab a slice of the action saw it as a fun property hunt – a search for the ultimate bargain.But for some, buying an old home in an offbeat location has turned out to be a life-changer.In 2021, Jeffrey Pfefferle bought two abandoned houses in the Sicilian town of Mussomeli. One cost one euro – a little over a dollar. The other was a “premium” property – a ready-to-occupy home in need of only minor fixes.Pfefferle – a South California-based retiree in his late 50s – and his British partner Leon McNaught never imagined how much the purchases could change their lives.“It gave us an opportunity to take a closer look at our lives and we found that the things we value in life are abundant in Mussomeli,” says Pfefferle.“It’s a place that offers a quality of life that predominantly values people above money. A place that embraces a slower pace, giving more p...

GOP hardliners again stymie effort to avoid shutdown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

By Lisa Mascaro and Stephen Groves | Associated PressWASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged with a spending cut plan to avert a looming federal government shutdown by appeasing his hard-right flank, only to see it quickly collapse Thursday in a crushing defeat, the next steps uncertain.His latest attempt to move ahead with a traditionally popular defense funding bill as a first step toward keeping the government running was shattered by a core group of Republican colleagues who refused to vote with the increasingly endangered speaker.A test vote to advance the bill failed, 212-216, as a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to stop it. It was the third time that McCarthy, R-Calif., has been stymied, and once again the House came to a sudden standstill.The open revolt was further evidence that McCarthy’s strategy of repeatedly giving in to the conservatives is seemingly only emboldening them. A handful of GOP lawmakers, urged on by Donald Trump, the party̵...

Artificial intelligence incubator hub is eyed for downtown San Jose

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

SAN JOSE — An artificial intelligence incubator could sprout in downtown San Jose, a fledgling effort being pursued by a busy local real estate developer that could spur the economy in the city’s urban core.The AI endeavor by developer Gary Dillabough is in the very early stages and there are no assurances that it will actually come to pass.One thing does appear certain: An incubator for AI companies could produce a significant economic boost for downtown San Jose.“San Jose should be the capital for AI development,” Dillabough said at a recent event to discuss the current situation as well as the future prospects for the city’s downtown.Dillabough made his comments during the Sept. 6 Silicon Valley Real Estate Breakfast hosted by prominent law firm Hoge Fenton.“We are talking with a potential partner to bring 40 or 50 AI startups to downtown San Jose,” Dillabough said during a discussion about how to spur economic activity in the city’...

King Charles III makes a stop at the fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral on his state visit to France

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:31 GMT

Britain's King Charles III addresses French lawmakers from both the upper and the lower house of parliament at the French Senate, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023 in Paris. King Charles III will later meet with sports groups in the northern suburbs of Paris and pay a visit to fire-damaged Notre-Dame cathedral Thursday, on the second day of his state visit to France.( Emmanuel Dunand, Pool via AP)(AP/Emmanuel Dunand) Britain's King Charles III addresses French lawmakers from both the upper and the lower house of parliament at the French Senate, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023 in Paris. King Charles III will later meet with sports groups in the northern suburbs of Paris and pay a visit to fire-damaged Notre-Dame cathedral Thursday, on the second day of his state visit to France.( ...