Lakers-Warriors rivalry on display at Crypto.com Arena for Game 4 of Western Conference Semifinals

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:08:30 GMT

Lakers-Warriors rivalry on display at Crypto.com Arena for Game 4 of Western Conference Semifinals The L.A.-Bay Area feud was in full display Monday night outside Crypto.com Arena where the Los Angeles Lakers were hosting the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals.  For some fans, it was more than just bragging rights at stake.  “You have the Bay Area that comes down thinking they own Southern California, but really, SoCal is the spot to be,” Lakers fan Jeremy Dinkin told KTLA. “When you think of California, you think of Southern California. It’s a conflict of power in the state.”  The rivalry between the two teams is even enough to test some marriages.  “All time Lakers fan forever,” Lamarr Boudreaux said.  “The girls are Warrior fans and the boys, they’re Laker fans in our house,” his wife, Ebony Boudreaux, responded. “It’s a house divided.” Then there’s the battle between LeBron James and Steph Curry.  “It’s like the battle of California,” Bakersfield resident James Davidson said.  James and his dad, Ryan, drove ...

Imran Khan, Pakistan's ex-prime minister, arrested in court

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:08:30 GMT

Imran Khan, Pakistan's ex-prime minister, arrested in court Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested Tuesday as he appeared in a court in the country’s capital, Islamabad, to face charges in multiple graft cases. Security agents dragged Khan outside and shoved him into an armored car before whisking him away.The arrest, which marks a dramatic escalation on Pakistan's political scene, drew nationwide condemnation from supporters of the popular opposition leader and former cricket star turned Islamist politician. Khan was dragged outside the Islamabad High Court and pushed into a police vehicle by agents from the National Accountability Bureau, according to Fawad Chaudhry, a senior official with Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Chaudhry denounced the arrest as “an abduction.” Pakistan’s independent GEO TV broadcast images of the 72-year-old Khan being pulled by security forces towards an armored vehicle, which took him away. Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022. He has claimed his ouster was illegal and a...

Confused getting to downtown Mountain View? Access and signage getting an upgrade: Roadshow

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:08:30 GMT

Confused getting to downtown Mountain View? Access and signage getting an upgrade: Roadshow Q: I often drive on Central Expressway from Palo Alto toward Mountain View, and can’t believe they haven’t fixed traffic flows into downtown Mountain View yet.I miss the ease of turning onto Castro Street on a whim, with its great shopping and dining. Instead, I pass, intending to turn around, then give up and continue on my way to another south/west valley opportunity.Are there plans to fix this quagmire, and improve downtown Mountain View access?If the goal is to continue the “no cars on Castro” policy, one solution is to resolve restrictions at Evelyn and Castro. Only a few restaurants there would be impacted, along with pedestrians going to or from the Caltrain station. It’s highly fixable. A more permanent solution is to limit parking on Castro to 20 to 30 minutes, rather than zero parking and no cars.More and better expressway signage before Shoreline advising about access to downtown Mountain View would be helpful, in any case.E. H.A: With the pe...

Massive snowpack’s summer bonus: Clean, cheap electricity for California

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:08:30 GMT

Massive snowpack’s summer bonus: Clean, cheap electricity for California The huge snowpack that has blanketed the Sierra Nevada this winter has done more than end California’s drought and extend ski season. It’s also changing how Californians keep the lights on.With reservoirs full across the state, hydroelectricity generation from dams is expected to expand dramatically this summer, after three dry years when it was badly hobbled.In 2017, a wet year similar to this one, hydropower made up 21% of all the electricity generated in California. But by 2021, in the middle of California’s most recent drought, it provided just 7%.This year, billions of gallons of water are once again spinning turbines in power plants at huge dams like Shasta, Oroville and Folsom, and will be all summer and into the fall as the snowpack melts.More hydropower means more clean electricity, less need to burn natural gas and other fossil fuels, less risk of blackouts during heat waves, and less smog and greenhouse gas emissions, experts say.“It gives us more ...

Pashelka: After NHL draft lottery, one key ingredient remains for GM Mike Grier’s plan to work

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:08:30 GMT

Pashelka: After NHL draft lottery, one key ingredient remains for GM Mike Grier’s plan to work It was four years ago this week that the San Jose Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series, leading them to what was then their fourth Western Conference Final in 10 seasons.After a gruesome head injury two weeks earlier, Joe Pavelski made a dramatic return to SAP Center, collecting a goal and an assist to give what would be that era of Sharks teams, that special and unique group of players, one final unforgettable moment.The Sharks then would lose to the St. Louis Blues in the next round, Pavelski would be allowed to walk as a free agent, and nothing’s been the same since.Sharks general manager Mike Grier knows it won’t be easy for his team to get back to where it was a few years ago, competing in playoff games in front of delirious, sold-out crowds. The best way to do it, at least from his vantage point, is to build from the ground up.Truthfully, that might mean being one of the NHL’s worst teams again next season and collecting another top...

Opinion: Why I quit my job and became a Bay Area teacher

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:08:30 GMT

Opinion: Why I quit my job and became a Bay Area teacher Recent years have seen a national exodus of teachers who feel overworked and burnt out, leading to skyrocketing attrition and a national teacher shortage. However, California may be bucking that trend.The state saw a 35% increase in teachers who completed a California teacher prep program and their preliminary credential between 2017-21. I am on my way to being one of them. Two years ago, I decided to take a pay cut and leave my well-paying, low-stress private sector job to become a teacher.After graduating college, I moved to the Bay Area to become a management consultant. Despite the engaging work and learning potential, I felt unfulfilled. I longed for an opportunity to expand my impact and help others. Upon reflection, I realized that everything I had earned was due to the hard work and dedication of my teachers and mentors.It was time to pay it forward by giving other students what I had growing up: an engaging learning environment with teachers who believed and invested in the...

Woman guilty of murdering missing 11-year-old stepson Gannon Stauch, sentenced to life in prison

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:08:30 GMT

Woman guilty of murdering missing 11-year-old stepson Gannon Stauch, sentenced to life in prison Gannon Stauch An El Paso County jury on Monday convicted Letecia Stauch of first-degree murder in the death of her 11-year-old stepson, finding the woman was sane during the brutal attack in the family’s Colorado Springs home three years ago.Jurors rejected Stauch’s defense that she suffered a mental break and was legally insane when she stabbed and shot Gannon Stauch on Jan. 27, 2020.The 39-year-old woman was also found guilty of tampering with a human body and tampering with evidence.Immediately after the conviction, Stauch was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 13.5 years in an emotional hearing during which Gannon’s family spoke about his life and death. The 11-year-old boy was born prematurely and weighed only 1 pound, 6 ounces at birth, his mother, Landen Bullard said. When he was born, his father’s wedding ring fit over Gannon’s arm up to his shoulder, another relative said.“You came into this world fighting, and unfortunately you left thi...

Skelton: 56 years after mental health reform failures, California tries again

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:08:30 GMT

Skelton: 56 years after mental health reform failures, California tries again There’s a bipartisan attempt in the state Legislature to finally finish the mental health reform that Gov. Ronald Reagan and lawmakers began 56 years ago. They botched the job back then.Their failure is a major reason why so many homeless people are living on California streets today.The 1967 reform was a splendid idea. It just didn’t get implemented as promised. Now it needs to be updated — altered to address the realities of mental health care — and given more money.The reforms under Reagan eliminated warehousing of mentally ill patients — frequently against their will — in depressing, oft-oppressive state hospitals. Everyone was told that the patients could be better treated in their local communities, close to family and friends.Great concept — except that neither the state nor local governments kicked in enough money for the treatment. Former patients — and thousands who should have been patients — wound up sleeping on downtown streets or in city parks or under freeways.The ref...

UFC fighter Tony Ferguson arrested on suspicion of DUI following rollover crash in Hollywood

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:08:30 GMT

UFC fighter Tony Ferguson arrested on suspicion of DUI following rollover crash in Hollywood By Wayne Sterling and Ben Morse | CNNUFC fighter Tony Ferguson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after his truck hit other vehicles and rolled over in Hollywood, California, on Sunday morning, the Los Angeles Police Department told CNN.According to the Los Angeles Times, citing police, Ferguson’s Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck flipped onto its side after hitting at least two parked vehicles on Wilcox Avenue shortly before 2 a.m. local time.Police said Ferguson initially refused to take a Breathalyzer test when he was taken into custody, the LA Times reported.Neither Ferguson’s representatives nor the UFC responded to CNN’s request for comment.Ferguson’s court date is set for June 1 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.Related ArticlesOther Sports | California woman gets 40 years in prison for sexually abusing young children, filming the crimes Other Sports | Party shooting in Southern California leaves 2 dead, 5 m...

Warriors find hope to overcome 3-1 deficit in the way they lost Game 4

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:08:30 GMT

Warriors find hope to overcome 3-1 deficit in the way they lost Game 4 LOS ANGELES — The scene at Crypto.com Arena was wrought with emotion following a Warriors’ Game 4 loss.On the court, LeBron James and Anthony Davis embraced Lonnie Walker IV, a role player who ripped the win away from Golden State with 15 fourth-quarter points to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 3-1 series lead.The feeling within the Warriors’ locker room was strange, in contrast — as hopeful and even-keeled as it has been through every high and low this season with a tinge of tension hanging overhead. How could they not feel tense with their title defense season now one loss away from ending? At least they have a few players in the locker room who’ve faced (and conquered) 3-1 deficits before.“I remember saying the same thing I did now,” Klay Thompson said. “Taking one day at a time and enjoying the process of chasing greatness.”The clear silver lining is the way in which the Warriors lost. It wasn’t Davis or James who beat th...