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Gas prices: Newsom scraps profits cap on oil industry ‘price gouging,’ proposes new watchdog body

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:48:26 GMT

Months after Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a plan to punish oil companies for reaping large profits during a California gas price surge, his office has scrapped the legislation and is instead looking to set up a new investigatory body and lengthy rule-making process to tame prices at the pump, which are once again nearing $5 a gallon.Newsom’s original plan would have established a maximum profit margin on gasoline-producing oil refiners and issued civil penalties for excess profits. Any revenue generated would have been put into a “Price Gouging Penalty Fund” and sent back to Californians.On Wednesday, the governor’s office said it is proposing legislation to create a watchdog body, backed by subpoena powers, within the California Energy Commission to investigate the state’s oil refinery market and gas prices. Based on findings from the watchdog entity, the commission could issue penalties at its discretion on the state’s oil refiners, according to advisers in t...

Two hikers die when slot canyon floods near Lake Powell

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:48:26 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Two hikers were found dead after floodwaters poured into a slot canyon near the Utah-Arizona line. Their companion and 11 other hikers in the area were rescued by helicopter.Search crews had been notified Monday by the wife of one of the three men, who said the party was overdue. They had started Friday on what was planned to be a multi-day, 40-mile trek through Buckskin Gulch, from Wire Pass in Utah to Lees Ferry, near the west end of Lake Powell in Arizona.Two of the men were found dead, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Kane County sheriff’s Lt. Allen Alldredge said. The third member of the party was spotted alive by an air search team and was hoisted out of the canyon. He was hospitalized with hypothermia and an unspecified injury.No cause of death was stated, and the hikers’ names were not released. All were in their 50s, and one of the men found dead was from Florida, Alldredge said.Buckskin Gulch is usually dry or with water not much higher than ankle-deep...

Police: Bay Area driver in deadly hit-and-run had history of DUI

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:48:26 GMT

(KRON) -- A hit-and-run driver who killed a 17-year-old Bay Area girl never should have been behind the wheel to begin with, according to the Pittsburg Police Department.The victim's friends identified her as Brooke Jeffrey, a girl who loved to dance and attended Melody's Dance Studio in Antioch for 12 years. Young dancers at Melody's Dance Studio wrote words of kindness on balloons for a memorial to honor their friend.On March 7, Jeffrey was walking to be picked up by her mother near Golden Gate Community School when she struck by a vehicle on Stoneman Avenue.Detectives worked around-the-clock to find the suspected hit-and-run driver. On Wednesday, police identified the suspect as Roberto Sainez, 34, of Pittsburg. Police arrested Sainez for vehicular manslaughter, and also arrested his fiancé, 30-year-old Vanessa Landeros, for allegedly helping him cover up the crime.At the time of the deadly accident, Sainez's driver's license was suspended because of a prior conviction for Drivin...

Thousands of PG&E customers remain without power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:48:26 GMT

(BCN) -- PG&E reduced further the number of Bay Area customers without power to 43,794 as of Thursday morning, according to a company announcement. More than half of the total are still in the South Bay, where 22,415 are without power. 2 dead, traffic snarled following multiple Bay Bridge incidents Elsewhere those without power include 14,006 customers on the Peninsula, 7,249 in the East Bay, 41 in the North Bay and 83 in San Francisco. The total is down from nearly 160,000 as of 8 a.m. Wednesday. On Tuesday afternoon, after high winds and rain knocked down trees and wires around the region, about 300,000 were without power. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

California homes teetering on edge of hillside after collapse: photos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:48:26 GMT

(KTLA) – Just a day after officials in Orange County, California, declared a local state of emergency, residents of four residential structures in San Clemente were forced to evacuate after the collapse of a hillside at the rear of the properties.   When will it stop raining in California? Here’s what meteorologists are saying Crews with the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) responded to the scene in the 1500 block of Buena Vista after receiving a 911 call about the landslide shortly after 8 a.m. Firefighters searched three properties to ensure all residents were out of the buildings, authorities said. Drone footage shows the swimming pool of one home, along with adjacent buildings, teetering dangerously close to a hillside collapse in San Clemente on Mar. 14, 2023. (OCFA)A close-up look at the swimming pool of a San Clemente residence as it teeters dangerously close to a hillside collapse on Mar. 15, 2023. Drone footage shows the swimming pool of one home, along with ...

Italy retrial ordered for Bay Area men in killing of officer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:48:26 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italy’s highest court has ordered a retrial for two American citizens who were convicted in the slaying of an Italian police officer during a sting operation gone bad.The Court of Cassation late Wednesday threw out the guilty verdicts against Finnegan Lee Elder, now 23, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 22, both convicted in the stabbing death of the 35-year-old caribiniere during a plainclothes operation in July 2019 while the Americans, teens at the time, were on vacation in Rome. Stanford employee arrested after allegedly lying about being raped twice on campus The court will issue its reasons for the verdict in the coming weeks, and instruct an appeals court on the precise issues to examine in a new trial.Elder’s lawyer, Roberto Capra, expressed satisfaction at the decision, saying a new trial would open the possibility of recalculating the sentence.“It confirms a topic we raised from the first day: That Elder was not aware of having in front of him a law enforcement agen...

Georgia’s Jalen Carter gets 1-year probation, $1,000 fine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:48:26 GMT

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter was given 12 months’ probation and a $1,000 fine on Thursday after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing related to a crash that killed Bulldogs offensive lineman Devin Willock and a recruiting staff member.Projected as one of the top players in next month’s NFL draft, Carter was sentenced in Athens-Clarke County Municipal Court, according to a statement from attorney Kim T. Stephens. Carter also must complete 50 hours of community service and a state-approved defensive driving course. The state can’t bring additional charges against Carter, the statement said, adding that Carter entered the pleas “in order to resolve this matter in the most efficient manner possible.”Athens-Clarke County Solicitor General Will Fleenor did not immediately return messages seeking comment.The Athens-Clarke County Police Department had issued an arrest warrant for Carter on March 1, alleging that he...

Florida St women lose 2 more to injury before NCAA tourney

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:48:26 GMT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The short bench of Florida State women’s basketball team just got shorter.Now the Seminoles, the seventh seed in Seattle Regional 4, will play with just eight players in the NCAA Tournament, beginning with Friday’s game against 10th-seed Georgia.Florida State announced Thursday that freshman guard Ta’Niya Latson and sophomore guard O’Mariah Gordon will miss the game against the Bulldogs and rest of the tournament because of injuries.Latson was an honorable-mention Associated Press All-American along with ACC Rookie of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection. She averaged 21.3 points and 4.5 rebounds this season.The Seminoles had just 10 players on the roster all season.“Fortunately or unfortunately, we’ve been in this situation before throughout the season,” Florida State coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “We’ve been down to eight players at certain times. So that’s one of the things that I love about our group, is that ...

2 police killed in domestic dispute call in western Canada

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:48:26 GMT

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Two police officers in western Canada were shot and killed Thursday while responding to a domestic dispute, and the suspected shooter died of self-inflicted wounds, police said. A woman at the scene was taken to hospital.The officers were shot in the city of Edmonton when they arrived at an apartment building at around 12:47 a.m., and there was no indication the officers were able to get any shots off, Edmonton Police Chief Dale McFee said.McFee said the woman who called police was taken to hospital where she was in serious but stable condition. He said she is related to the suspect. McFee identified the deceased officers as Travis Jordan, 35, a eight and a half year veteran of the Edmonton police and Brett Ryan, 30, a five and a half year veteran of the force. “I can’t tell you how devastated we are with their loss,” McFee said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted his condolences and support to the officers’ loved ones and colleagues.“Every...

Nurses, paramedics reach pay deal to end England strikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:48:26 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Unions representing hundreds of thousands of nurses, ambulance crews and other health care workers in England reached a deal Thursday to resolve months of disruptive strikes for higher wages, though the pact didn’t include doctors.The announcement came as early-career physicians spent a third day on picket lines and the day after U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt announced a budget that included no , additional money for labor groups that have staged crippling strikes amid a punishing cost-of-living crisis and double-digit inflation.Under the deal negotiated by government officials and union leaders, workers would get a lump sum payment for the current year and a 5% raise next year. Any strike actions will be halted while rank-and-file members vote on whether to accept it.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the pact would reward hardworking National Health Service staff who persevered through the pandemic, and prevent further work stoppages.“This offer is good for NHS ...