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Using opioid settlement cash for police gear like squad cars and scanners sparks debate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:53 GMT

Aneri Pattani | (TNS) KFF Health NewsPolicing expenses mount quickly: $25,000 for a law enforcement conference about fentanyl in Colorado; $18,000 for technology to unlock cellphones in Southington, Connecticut; $2,900 for surveillance cameras and to train officers and canines in New Lexington, Ohio. And in other communities around the country, hundreds of thousands for vehicles, body scanners and other equipment.In these cases and many others, state and local governments are turning to a new means to pay those bills: opioid settlement cash.This money — totaling more than $50 billion across 18 years — comes from national settlements with more than a dozen companies that made, sold or distributed opioid painkillers, including Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, and Walmart, which were accused of fueling the epidemic that addicted and killed millions.Directing the funds to police has triggered difficult questions about what the money was meant for and whether such spending truly...

San Jose house listed for $1.5 million comes with meth lab. Buyer gets the clean up.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:53 GMT

If you’re on the market for a San Jose fixer-upper, here’s a doozy: This one can’t be legally inhabited until the inactive meth lab inside is cleaned up. The list price? $1.5 million.It’s being sold as-is — and the purchaser will get it sight unseen. At least on the inside. No access to the house will be provided before the Santa Clara County Health department gives its approval, the property listing notes.The San Jose home, located about a block north of the Gunderson High School Campus, was raided in March of this year as part of an explosives investigation targeting 36-year-old Peter Karasev, who they claimed was using it as a base to stockpile bomb-making chemicals and methamphetamines.Related ArticlesHousing | How spooked is California’s housing market? 12 factors to watch Housing | From the Bay Area to Australia, abandoned golf courses are being reclaimed by nature Housing | Huge San Jose housing project, retai...

Anti-Defamation League accuses U.S. pro-Palestine student groups of siding with terrorism

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:53 GMT

By Jordan Valinsky, CNNNew York  — The Anti-Defamation League sent an open letter to more 200 colleges and universities Wednesday, urging administrators to investigate campus chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine for allegedly supporting Hamas.The letter, written in conjunction Brandeis Center, a Jewish human rights legal advocacy group, said that many SJP chapters have endorsed Hamas’ attack on Israel that left more than 1,400 dead. The United States has designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization.RELATED: Richmond becomes first U.S. city to declare support for Palestinians amid Israel-Hamas warThe ADL said any financial support the chapters may have made to bolster Hamas’ cause could violate federal and state laws that prevent Americans from materially supporting terror groups. The letter, which called for universities to “investigate” individual chapters of SJP, provided no evidence to indicate that SJP had provided material or financial support for Hamas.SJP den...

What we know about the Maine mass shooting victims

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:53 GMT

By Jeanne Bonner and Jay Croft | CNNFor the victims of the mass shooting Wednesday night in Lewiston, Maine, it was an ordinary night out.Some were participating in a cornhole tournament while others were enjoying a meal. Then a shooter ended their fun.And now another American community is grieving as the identities of those friends and loved ones whose lives were lost emerge.Police are searching for Robert Card in connection with the massacre at a restaurant and bowling alley that killed 18 people and injured 13 others.It is the deadliest mass shooting in the United States this year, and the worst since a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at a school in Uvalde, Texas, last year. Overall, at least 566 mass shootings have happened this year across the country, with four or more shot excluding the shooter, according to the Gun Violence Archive.Here’s what we know so far about the victims:Tricia AsselinTricia Asselin, 53, was the heart of her tight-knit family and worked as a ...

Red Flag Warning issued Saturday and Sunday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:53 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A Red Flag Warning has been issued for parts of the Bay Area this weekend, the National Weather Service announced on Friday. Critical fire weather conditions are possible from 5 a.m. on Saturday through 5 p.m. Sunday, the NWS said.North-northeast winds are expected to develop early Saturday morning across the ridges of the North Bay, East Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains. Dry offshore winds are expected to peak late Saturday into Sunday morning, the NWS said.These conditions will result in elevated fire weather concerns. Offshore winds during overnight hours could mix down into interior valleys in parts of the North Bay and East Bay, the NWS said. First snow of fall blankets Lake Tahoe mountains Wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph are possible with higher gusts up to 50 to 60 mph possible across ridgetops and higher elevations.Areas affected by the warning include:Marin Coastal RangeNorth Bay Interior MountainsSanta Cruz MountainsEastern Santa Clara HillsEast Bay HillsT...

Atherton PD investigating residential burglary

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:53 GMT

(KRON) -- The Atherton Police Department is investigating a burglary of a residence on the unit block of Ridgeview Drive that occurred on Oct. 25 at approximately 7:15 p.m.Three burglars gained entry to the residence by breaking the front glass door, according to Atherton police. Woman drank ‘semen-contaminated’ water served at Half Moon Bay Ritz-Carlton hotel: lawsuit This incident is currently under investigation.Residents who live near Ridgeview Drive are encouraged to check their surveillance video and report any possible leads to the Atherton Police Department at (650)-688-6500.Atherton authorities offered safety tips for residents:Keep all doors and windows locked, even when you are homeWhen you are not home, make it appear that someone is home by keeping lights on, installing light timers, and leaving on the television or radioInstall exterior lightingDo not keep valuables in your primary bedroom, as this area is a common target of burglarsKeep valuables well-hidden and con...

San Francisco will prosecute fatal overdose cases as murders

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:53 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Fentanyl is known as a "silent killer." The powerful opioid has quietly stolen the lives of hundreds of San Franciscans this year.Governor Gavin Newsom said drug dealers who put fentanyl into the hands of overdose victims are "poison peddlers." They profit from the desperation and misery of opioid addicts. They slip the deadly drug into fake pills masked as Xanax and Adderall, ultimately poisoning a victim who would have never knowingly used fentanyl.San Francisco's fentanyl epidemic has no end in sight and overdose numbers are continuing to surge. The city's mayor and top law enforcement officers said it's time to stop treating fentanyl deaths simply as tragedies. The deaths will be investigated as homicides, and drug dealers linked to fatal overdoses could stand trial for murder, Newsom and city leaders announced Friday."The opioid crisis has claimed too many, and fentanyl traffickers must be held accountableincluding, as appropriate, for murder," Newsom sa...

The Senate Condemns Student Groups as Backlash to Pro-Palestinian Speech Grows

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:53 GMT

On Friday, the U.S. Senate passed a unanimous resolution condemning what it called “anti-Israel, pro-Hamas student groups” across the country following a day of walkouts. Hundreds of students, led by Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, walked out of classes at Columbia University, Princeton University, New York University, and dozens of other colleges in what they described as a demand for a ceasefire in Gaza and end to U.S. military support to Israel. The Senate resolution condemned student groups for ostensibly supporting Hamas as part of a broader government and corporate pushback on protests over the war.As the conflict intensifies, disputes are spilling over from campuses and government into many workplaces as well. Recent weeks have seen pressure by government officials against student activist groups, the creation of public blacklists in multiple industries, and a wave of politically motivated firings over people’s publicly stated views on the confli...

Review: DC audiences can finally see Cannes Film Fest champion courtroom drama ‘Anatomy of a Fall’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:53 GMT

This image released by Neon shows, from left, Samuel Theis, Sandra Hüller and Milo Machado Graner in a scene from "Anatomy of a Fall." (Neon via AP) This image released by Neon shows, from left, Samuel Theis, Sandra Hüller and Milo Machado Graner in a scene from "Anatomy of a Fall." (Neon via AP) It won the top prize of the international film community with the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival back in May.This week, the French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall” finally opens wider in D.C.-area theaters, giving local viewers a chance to see a major potential Oscar contender for Best Picture, Director, Actress and Original Screenplay, though ironically not Best International Feature as Franc...

Idaho judge upholds indictment against man accused of fatally stabbing 4 college students

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:53 GMT

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho judge on Thursday declined to dismiss a grand jury indictment against a man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students.Bryan Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary in connection with the deaths at a rental house near the school’s campus in Moscow, Idaho, last November. Kohberger’s attorneys filed a motion earlier this year asking the judge to dismiss the indictment, contending in part that the jury was biased, that jurors were given inadmissible evidence, and that they didn’t use the right legal standard when they decided to indict. The arguments over claims of jury bias, prosecutorial misconduct and evidence were held in a closed hearing on Thursday because Idaho law keeps details about specific grand juries secret. The arguments about the legal standard used in the indictment were held in open court, however. The jurors used a probable cause standard, Kohberger’s attorney Ja...