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Major changes could be coming to San Jose’s Plaza de Cesar Chavez

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:57 GMT

A major makeover could be in the works for Plaza de Cesar Chavez, the urban park that’s the cultural heart of downtown San Jose and already home to some of the city’s most popular events. This week, the San Jose City Council opened the door to making it the site of Breeze of Innovation, the landmark structure proposed by Urban Confluence Silicon Valley.But that wouldn’t be all. Urban Confluence Executive Director Steve Borkenhagen envisions a larger, more activated park than what’s there now — something he says San Jose could be really proud of and that would stand alongside city parks around the world.“We just think Plaza de Cesar Chavez is the most important urban park in our city,” he told the council. “It’s really a gem in the rough and with lots of collaboration with other stakeholders, we can make a spectacular park there and properly honor Cesar Chavez after all these years.”The city council signed off Tuesday on let...

Attorney: Ex-Theranos exec Sunny Balwani reports to prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:57 GMT

By Catherine Thorbecke and Jennifer Korn | CNNRamesh “Sunny” Balwani, the former chief operating officer of failed startup Theranos and ex-boyfriend of founder Elizabeth Holmes, has reported to prison, according to his attorney.“Mr Balwani turned himself in … smoothly without incident,” Jeffrey Coopersmith, Balwani’s attorney, said in an email to CNN on Thursday. “We will continue to fight for him because we do not believe that he received a fair trial.”Balwani’s arrival into custody marks an end to a years-long saga which saw him go from serving as a top executive at a high-flying Silicon Valley company to being one of the rare tech executives convicted for fraud.First indicted nearly five years ago alongside Holmes, Balwani was found guilty last July on all 12 charges he faced, which included 10 counts of federal wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison in December. B...

Court orders Mike Lindell to pay up on his $5M challenge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:57 GMT

By Sara Murray | CNNMy Pillow CEO Mike Lindell has been ordered to shell out $5 million to an expert who debunked his data related to the 2020 election, according to a decision by the arbitration panel obtained by CNN.Lindell, a purveyor of election conspiracies, vowed to award the multimillion-dollar sum to any cyber security expert who could disprove his data. An arbitration panel awarded Robert Zeidman, who has decades in software development experience, a $5 million payout on Wednesday after he sued Lindell over the sum.CNN has obtained arbitration documents and video depositions, including a deposition of Lindell, related to the dispute.“Based on the foregoing analysis, Mr. Zeidman performed under the contract,” the arbitration panel wrote in its decision. “He proved the data Lindell LLC provided, and represented reflected information from the November 2020 election, unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data. Failure to pay Mr. Zeidman the $5 m...

Mississippi to Create Special Justice System for Just One City: Majority-Black Jackson

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:57 GMT

Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has until Friday to sign a bill that would create a separate police force and court system for Jackson, the state’s capital city. The bill is controversial for its subversion of local control and for its construction of a system in which white state officials will appoint the people in charge of the criminal justice system in a majority-Black city.Hinds County, which includes Jackson, would become the only municipality in the state that doesn’t elect its own prosecutors and judges.“We are finding ourselves jumping back to days of Jim Crow, days of apartheid.”The bill is an extension of efforts to control and undermine the voices of the Black people who live in Jackson, said Rukia Lumumba, co-director of the Movement for Black Lives’ Electoral Justice Project and a candidate in the upcoming Democratic primary for a state House seat just north of Jackson.“We are finding ourselves jumping back to days of Jim Crow, days of apartheid,” she said, ...

Jan. 6 suspect charged with firing gun toward Texas officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:57 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas man who agreed to surrender on charges from taking part in the U.S. Capitol riot but later that day fired a gun toward sheriff’s deputies who went to his house in response to a welfare call, federal prosecutors said Thursday.Nathan Donald Pelham, 40, allegedly fired the shots from his rural home on April 12, the same day he was told he was charged with four misdemeanors for allegedly participating in the Jan. 6 attack. Officers heard bullets “whiz” past them and hit objects nearby, according to an affidavit from an FBI agent. The deputies left without making an arrest, according to court records. The Justice Department said no law enforcement officers were injured. An attorney for Pelham, who was arrested Tuesday, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The episode is an outlier in the more than 1,000 federal arrests that have been made in the Jan. 6 riot. Practically all of the arrests have been made without incident, including those...

1 dead, 3 injured after fire in New Bedford

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:57 GMT

One person died and three others were injured after a fire broke out in a home in New Bedford Thursday, state and local officials announced. The state Department of Fire Services said New Bedford firefighters first responded to the home on Chestnut Street after receiving calls around 1:40 a.m. Officials said firefighters were able to rescue two older adults from the house. Both people were taken to a hospital, where one of them was pronounced dead. Officials said the other person was in critical condition as of Thursday evening. Officials said several other people were able to escape the building on their own, though two of them were also taken to a hospital. “This is a devastating tragedy for a whole family,” New Bedford Fire Chief Scott Kruger said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with them and their loved ones right now.”The Department of Fire Services said working smoke alarms in the house “may have helped prevent an even greater tragedy.” The cause of ...

Run, pass, special teams: Nets defensive scheme is working, but not winning games

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:57 GMT

The Nets have taken away the run and the pass, but have lost Games 1 and 2 of their first-round playoff matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on special teams.And they’re OK with that.Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn likes to use a football analogy to describe his defensive game plan against a stacked Sixers team headlined by presumptive league Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid and former MVP James Harden.Embiid and Harden — namely the damage the duo does at the foul line — are the run and the pass. Philadelphia’s complementary players are the special teams.And the returns have been positive: Embiid hasn’t come close to his season average against the Nets this series despite dominating them in regular-season play over the years. And after Harden pelted the Nets for seven threes in Brooklyn’s 20-point loss in Game 1 in Philly, the Nets held him to just 3-of-13 shooting from the field and two-of-eight shooting from behind the arc for eight points.Both ...

Tornadoes kill 3 in Oklahoma; new storms possible Thursday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:57 GMT

By KEN MILLER and JAMIE STENGLE (Associated Press)DALLAS (AP) — Tornadoes plowed through Oklahoma during another deadly spring storm in the U.S., killing at least three people and damaging dozens of homes in a hard-hit rural town. Forecasters warned Thursday that more severe weather was still possible. A day after at least eight tornadoes spun through Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt said authorities were still assessing the scale of destruction and injuries. He toured the aftermath in Shawnee, where nearly every building on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University showed damage. A home improvement store was destroyed, but several people sheltering inside survived. Two long-term care facilities and a hospital were also damaged there.“The damage is unbelievable when you walk through there,” Stitt said after touring the city.Stitt also toured the small town of Cole, where he said two people died and 50 to 100 homes were damaged. Authorities said a third person who was inj...

Celtics’ Malcolm Brogdon wins NBA’s sixth man of the year award

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:57 GMT

When the Celtics traded for Malcolm Brogdon last July, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens had to be up front with the veteran guard.Brogdon had been a starter for most of his first six seasons in the NBA. But the Celtics had a specific idea with him. They didn’t need a starter, or for Brogdon to be a top option. Their NBA Finals run exposed a need for a playmaker off the bench, and they viewed Brogdon as the perfect fit.“They told me straight up, you’re going to come off the bench,” Brogdon recalled on TNT Thursday night. “We have a formula here, we have something that works. We think you can be a key piece and really help us, but your role is going to be coming off the bench, and I chose to embrace it.”Brogdon, after a few underwhelming, injury-riddled seasons with the Pacers, saw it as an opportunity to join a championship team, and still be a major contributor. He not only embraced the sacrificial role, but excelled in it. On Thursday, Brogdon was recognized as the N...

After ‘ladies’ controversy in Easthampton, second superintendent finalist withdraws amid students reporting ‘conservative transphobic’ Facebook posts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:57 GMT

After the top pick for Easthampton’s superintendent lost his job offer when he used the term “ladies” in an email, the second choice for the district has withdrawn herself from running the school system amid students reporting her past Facebook posts.The Easthampton School Committee is back to the drawing board following this latest chapter in the chaotic search for a new leader of the school district.Erica Faginski-Stark, the director of Curriculum and Instruction at Ludlow Public Schools, is no longer in line to take over as superintendent.On the night that the School Committee voted to not re-enter contract negotiations with first pick Vito Perrone and to instead offer the job to Faginski-Stark, students emailed the Easthampton mayor about their “extreme concerns” with the second choice.“Under the belief that this is her Facebook account, she has posted conservative transphobic rhetoric a multitude of times,” the students wrote to Mayor N...