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Federal judge strikes down decades-old California ban on assault weapons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:06 GMT

By Taylor Romine | CNNA federal judge has overturned a decades-old California law banning assault weapons, calling the restriction “extreme” and unconstitutional.US District Judge Roger T. Benitez ruled Thursday the ban impedes on residents’ Second Amendment rights and has no historical precedent, as is required by a landmark Supreme Court decision last year that changed the test courts are to use when determining the constitutionality of firearms regulations.Benitez relied on a similar argument when he struck down California’s ban on high-capacity magazines last month.The state argued the law aims to prevent mass shooters from gaining access to assault weapons. But Benitez countered many of the banned firearms are also commonly used by “law-abiding” citizens for self-defense.“California’s answer to the criminal misuse of a few is to disarm its many good residents. That knee-jerk reaction is constitutionally untenable, just as it was 250 years ago,” Benitez wrote in his decision.The...

Police: Driver who crashed into Chinese consulate in San Francisco tried to stab a responding officer before being fatally shot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:06 GMT

By Veronica Miracle and Aya Elamroussi | CNNThe driver who crashed a blue Honda sedan into the Chinese consulate in San Francisco last week was armed with a knife and had a loaded crossbow in his car before he was shot and killed by police, authorities said Thursday.Zhanyuan Yang, 31, rammed into the lobby area of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China on October 9 just after 3 p.m. local time, San Francisco Police said last week. At the time, police said there were no other injuries.On Thursday, the San Francisco Police Department held a town hall where it addressed details about how the attack on the consulate unfolded. Officials played 911 calls and body camera footage of responding police officers.One video shows an officer arriving at the scene and running into a building inside of which appears a blue sedan has crashed. As the officer makes his way farther into the building, the camera moves closer to a man dressed in a blue T-shirt and pants while covering hi...

Plans for thousands of homes on San Jose golf course get county boost

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:06 GMT

SAN JOSE — Santa Clara County’s adoption of its own blueprint for future housing development gives a big boost to a fledgling concept that could replace a San Jose golf course with thousands of homes.The prospect for wide-ranging housing development and other uses such as retail and open spaces — effectively a new neighborhood — is being contemplated at the long-shuttered Pleasant Hills Golf Course site in east San Jose.San Jose’s Pleasant Hills Golf Course at the northeast corner of South White Road and Tully Road, aerial view, November 2022. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)Santa Clara County in recent days adopted a housing element for the years 2023 through 2031.California’s quest to spur the creation of more residences throughout the state has obliged numerous local agencies to pass housing elements — a bureaucratic term for blueprints that local jurisdictions must craft for residential development within their borders.Tucked away...

The Earthquakes wanted to raise their standard. Luchi Gonzalez helped them do it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:06 GMT

SAN JOSE — Sitting on one knee just outside the penalty box, Luchi Gonzalez positioned himself far enough from his team to make it clear that his voice wasn’t needed.He sat calmly with his whistle, blowing it only when necessary, but rarely saying much as his players finished their training session Wednesday morning at PayPal Park.As he wraps up his first season as the head coach of the San Jose Earthquakes with a must-win game against Austin FC on Saturday, Gonzalez hopes he created a culture that prioritizes stability and process, one that encourages development and believes success isn’t always linear.“I’m going to go to sleep at peace knowing I’m trying my personal best and the players are trying their best,” he said. “I think we’re close to our potential. That’s where I’m hopeful.”A win on Saturday and the Earthquakes would clinch a playoff berth and secure an opportunity to host a postseason game for the first time since 2012, before the opening of PayPal Park.“We ...

Opinion: Pac-12 is ‘Conference of Champions.’ Don’t let it disappear

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:06 GMT

No collegiate athletic conference has been more dominant than the Pac-12 when it comes to winning national trophies. As of this month, the conference has earned an unmatched 553 NCAA championships, with a 200-plus trophy cushion over the second-place league.And this legacy of success doesn’t belong just to the powerhouse sport of football.Consider the Olympic sports contested across the NCAA: Pac-12 schools dominate the top 25 national rankings and finishes, and Stanford, UCLA and USC sweep the podium spots for schools with the most NCAA team titles. If the Pac-12 were a nation, it would have placed fifth in the medal count at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. Indeed, it is Olympic sports that have made the Pac-12 the “Conference of Champions.”One would think that with stats like these, the college presidents and university athletic directors in the Pac-12 wouldn’t let the conference disintegrate, picked apart by its fellow leagues and set t...

Two women arrested for stealing $1,900 of merchandise at Great Mall in Milpitas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:06 GMT

(KRON) -- Two women were arrested at the Great Mall in Milpitas Wednesday for organized retail theft and grand theft, the Milpitas Police Department announced on Thursday. Detectives were driving through the parking lot at the mall when they noticed two people coming out of the mall. Over $130K of property stolen from rental car parked in San Mateo Police described the subjects as "suspicious characters" who were "hurrying out of the Great Mall with large bags filled with merchandise." Officers observed them get into a car and drive away.A patrol officer who was nearby stopped the car. Inside, officers found nearly $1,900 in merchandise allegedly stolen from Marshalls, as well as a tool used to remove security sensors.The car's driver and passenger, two women from Merced, were arrested, police said. One of the women allegedly tried to trick officers by giving them a fake name. Officers learned her true identity and that she had a felony warrant for grand theft.The suspects were bo...

Man facing 24 years in prison for allegedly trafficking cocaine in Alameda County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:06 GMT

(BCN) -- A man is facing over 24 years in prison for allegedly trafficking cocaine in Alameda County, according to prosecutors.Alfredo Moranperez on Tuesday was arraigned on charges of possession for sale of more than 10 kilos of cocaine, plus a special enhancement allegation and possession of a controlled substance with firearms present and child abuse for storing contraband in a room in close proximity to minor children, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.According to authorities, officers had served a search warrant at Moranperez's house where they found cocaine, including organized kilo bricks, over $108,000 cash, and two loaded firearms, including a Glock-style "ghost gun" and a Glock 9 mm pistol. Suspect arrested in connection with two killings in parking lot of East Bay gym He was arrested on Oct. 12. The judge set his bail at $1,250,000 at the request of prosecutors.Moranperez faces a sentence of 24 years and 4 months in state prison if convi...

Rep. Jim Jordan will try again for House gavel but Republicans won’t back the hard-line Trump ally

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:06 GMT

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who failed in a crucial second ballot yesterday to become Speaker of the House, talks to reporters as he leaves a closed meeting of the Republican Conference, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)(AP/J. Scott Applewhite) Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who failed in a crucial second ballot yesterday to become Speaker of the House, talks to reporters as he leaves a closed meeting of the Republican Conference, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)(AP/J. Scott Applewhite) WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite deepening opposition, Rep. Jim Jordan made an impassioned push to become House speaker ahead of a Friday vote...

Will Jawando drops out of US Senate race

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:06 GMT

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 31: Will Jawando, a member of the Montgomery County Council, speaks during a rally on the National Mall on May 31, 2021 in Washington, DC. Members and allies of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community are speaking out in response to a rise in anti-Asian violence in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)(Getty Images/Samuel Corum) WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 31: Will Jawando, a member of the Montgomery County Council, speaks during a rally on the National Mall on May 31, 2021 in Washington, DC. Members and allies of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community are speaking out in response to a rise in anti-Asian violence in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Get...

Dunking balls in a bucket part of England’s prep for Rugby World Cup semifinal against South Africa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:06 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Rugby teams have all kinds of behind-the-scenes specialists in their backroom staff these days.The English even have a ball-dunker.With rain in the forecast for its semifinal against South Africa at the Rugby World Cup on Saturday, England has been practicing with a wet ball in training this week to get its players attuned.“There (has been) a logistics guy on the sidelines,” England attack coach Richard Wigglesworth said on Friday, “with a bucket of water with balls ready to go into whenever we are swapping or starting a set.“We are focusing in on what it might be like to handle a wet ball rather than a dry one.”The likelihood of handling errors increases in wet weather, so teams may choose to kick the ball more in such conditions.The Springboks are renowned for having a strong kick-chase game when they need it, and that’s a department England has looked to improve since coach Steve Borthwick was hired late last year.Freddie Steward can expect to have a busy...