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Video captures whale with missing tail near California coast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:59 GMT

A charter boat was tracking a gray whale cruising close to the coast, at times 100 feet from shore passing the Balboa Pier on its northbound journey.But something was different about the way this whale swam, and as the boat got closer, it became apparent the cause: The gray whale had no tail.“It definitely had a unique swimming style because it had to compensate for not having a tail anymore,” Newport Coastal Adventure owner Ryan Lawler said of the whale spotted early Monday, March 13.Instead of its flukes, the whale had to use its pectoral flippers – located toward the head of its body – leaning sideways to adjust its swimming.It’s not the first time a whale without a tail has been documented.  Alisa Schulman-Janiger, Director of the ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project, based at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, remembered being shocked when she saw her first tailless whale in Mexico back in 1985. More recently, there’s been sightings in Southern California in 2015, ...

Silicon Valley Bank’s parent company files for bankruptcy protection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:59 GMT

The parent of Silicon Valley Bank, seized last week by the U.S., is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.SVB Financial Group, along with its CEO and its chief financial officer, were targeted this week in a class action lawsuit that claims the company didn’t disclose the risks that future interest rate increases would have on its business.SVB Financial Group is no longer affiliated with Silicon Valley Bank after its seizure by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Its collapse was the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history after the demise of Washington Mutual in 2008.The bank’s successor, Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, is being run under the jurisdiction of the FDIC and is not included in the Chapter 11 filing.“The Chapter 11 process will allow SVB Financial Group to preserve value as it evaluates strategic alternatives for its prized businesses and assets, especially SVB Capital and SVB Securities,” William Kosturos, Chief Restructuring Officer for SVB Financial Group, said...

California city pays $750,000 to owner of car allegedly painted with swastika by police officers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:59 GMT

The city of Torrance has paid $750,000 to the owner of an impounded car that allegedly was spray-painted by police with a swastika in 2020.The payment settles a $6 million federal lawsuit by car owner Kiley Swaine, who did not learn of the alleged involvement of two former Torrance police officers until nearly two years after the damage to his 2004 Hyundai Elantra.The swastika incident led to the discovery that some officers were engaging in racist and homophobic text messages, including jokes about having “gassed the Jews,” urinating on a Black man and beating up a woman.The texts featured several variations of the n-word and referred to detainees as “monkeys,” “moon crickets”  and “savages.” So far, at least four officers have been terminated or resigned in the aftermath of the scandal. Fifteen officers had been placed on leave pending an investigation.“I have been suing police officers for 39 years and I have never seen anything like this,” said Swaine’s attorney, Jerry Steering ...

Southern California mayor, a fierce critic of state housing mandates, lives in affordable housing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:59 GMT

Huntington Beach Mayor Tony Strickland, who is leading the charge against a lawsuit accusing the city of ignoring California’s affordable housing mandates, lives in an affordable housing development himself on the city’s west side, but insists that doesn’t make him a hypocrite.Strickland, a former state senator and assemblyman who owns a political and business consulting firm, has since 2018 resided in an 1,800-square-foot condominium on Breezy Lane in the upscale Cape Ann community, which was built for those who qualify to purchase units based on family income limits.But Strickland said his connection to the four-bedroom condominium where he lives is tenuous. His wife, Carla D. Strickland, bought the unit with her former husband in 2000, and jointly obtained a $315,000 mortgage, according to public records. Although Tony and Carla Strickland placed the condo into a joint living trust following their marriage in 2019, the mortgage remains in the name of the mayor’s wife.Nevertheless...

Federal Reserve blocked mention of regulatory flaws in Silicon Valley Bank rescue

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:59 GMT

WASHINGTON — As U.S. regulators prepared to announce an extraordinary government rescue of depositors at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank on Sunday, officials from the Biden administration pushed to formally spotlight shortcomings in financial regulation that they blamed for the banks’ rapid descent to insolvency, according to several people involved in or close to the discussions.But Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, blocked efforts to include a phrase mentioning regulatory failures in the joint statement released early Sunday evening by the Fed, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.Government officials raced through the weekend to decide how to protect the financial system against the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, and the back and forth underlined a tension in the discussions. Some administration officials wanted to include that lapses in bank regulation and supervision had contributed to the problems that helped fell the bank.Powell pu...

Haley Jones, on eve of final Stanford home games, reflects on her Cardinal journey

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:59 GMT

STANFORD — Haley Jones has seen a whole lot of change in her four years at Stanford.From the global pandemic halting school and sports to a nationwide racial reckoning to new financial rules in college sports, it has been a whirlwind time to be a college athlete. And that doesn’t even count the national championship Stanford won in 2021 when Jones was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.“This is definitely my first normal-ish year of college,” Jones said. “Which has been great. Wish I had this for four. But I feel like I’ve seen it all. Like, unprecedented stuff, stuff I’ve never even imagined.”The senior star will play her final home games at Maples Pavilion this weekend in the NCAA Tournament, with the first one for the No. 1 Cardinal on Friday night against 16th-seed Sacred Heart.Jones’ Stanford career was never a sure thing, even though she attended the Cardinal’s basketball camps as a child and went to high school at San Jose’s Archbishop Mitty, where she was a t...

Roadshow: Should roadside memorial for slain Safeway worker remain or be removed?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:59 GMT

Q: There is a road/street memorial on Hamilton Avenue in front of the Safeway that honors a young man who was murdered inside the store. The memorial has been there since June. It is unsightly, and constantly grows and shrinks. Surrounding neighbors are tired of its presence.The Safeway manager said that Safeway has nothing to do with it.Robert A. FlanaganA: City officials from Campbell and San Jose will look at the site and determine if it should be removed. They usually leave these memorials in place for several months up to a year or so, and return items from a memorial to family members of the person who died. The young man slain at Safeway was an employee, Manny Huizar, 24. He was shot when he tried to stop a late night shoplifter.Q: I have a question about whether there are any rules for using public Tesla chargers.In a shopping center parking lot at the corner of Payne Avenue and Saratoga Avenue, there are about 10 Tesla chargers. I assume they are used by people who live nea...

The California counties where it's cheaper to build than buy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:59 GMT

A study released last month revealed surprising details about the cost-benefit of building a home in California.The study, published by StorageCafe and Yardi, a California-based real estate and property management software company, found that California might actually be one of the best states in the nation to build a dream home versus buying an existing one.The data showed that it might be cheaper, around $200,000, to build than buy.The revelation is probably an interesting new piece of information for those who have been struggling to get into the housing market, but for others, the data may have created more questions than it gave answers.On the surface, it makes some semblance of sense: California is notoriously the most expensive state in the union, and there's a stark lack of homes on the market. While prices of homes have skyrocketed since the coronavirus pandemic began three years ago, land prices in the nation's third-largest state might not have increased at the same scale...

Tyler Adams injury a worry for Leeds in relegation fight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:59 GMT

LEEDS, England (AP) — Leeds midfielder Tyler Adams will miss an undetermined amount of time with a hamstring injury, and manager Javi Gracia said the American won’t be easy to replace.The 24-year-old Adams was ruled out of Leeds’ match at Wolverhampton on Saturday after sustaining the injury this week in training. The United States captain will also miss upcoming games with his national team.“Tyler is different than others. There is no one like Tyler,” Gracia said of the defensive midfielder.The Spanish manager offered no timetable for Adams’ return as the club battles to stay in the Premier League.“Tyler is injured and in this moment he’s with a specialist and we’ll see how long he’s out of the team,” Gracia said. “We have other players. All of us know that Tyler is a key player for us but we have to manage with the squad we have.”Weston McKennie and Marc Roca are options to fill in, as are 19-year-old Darko Gyabi and 17-year-old Archie Gray, Gracia said.“These ar...

YouTube TV is getting more expensive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:59 GMT

The cost of YouTube TV is going up again — making a monthly subscription 114% more expensive than when the service launched six years ago.Beginning immediately for new subscribers, the basic package, which has more than 100 TV channels, will cost $72.99 a month. That’s an increase of $8 from $64.99 per month, which has been its price for more than three years. Existing subscribers will receive the new price beginning on April 18.YouTube TV explained on Twitter that the price hike is because “content costs have risen” and it’s investing in its “quality of service.” The Alphabet-owned service recently bought the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket from DirecTV, which reportedly cost $2 billion per year, according to the Wall Street Journal.“We are committed to offering a premium way for you to stream TV, but understand this new price may not work for you,” the platform said in a tweet. “We do hope YouTube TV continues to be your service of...