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Oakland engineering firm denies Bay Area college district’s “pay-to-play” allegations, threatens suit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:04 GMT

The CEO of an Oakland-based firm is asking a San Mateo County judge to throw out certain sections of a complaint filed by the San Mateo County Community College District last month as part of its ongoing corruption crackdown, arguing the district’s allegations have “flung wildly and recklessly” and put his business at risk.Filed Feb. 8 in San Mateo County Superior Court, the complaint seeks damages from five contractors and consultants the college district worked with during the time Ron Galatolo was chancellor. Galatolo was charged with misappropriating public funds and tax evasion in 2022 following a corruption probe by the San Mateo County DA’s office.The suit names Allana, Buick & Bers, Inc., an Oakland company going on 36 years, and argues that the firm gave thousands of dollars worth of gifts from Galatolo in exchange for a contract to build a solar farm at Cañada College in 2013, which a corruption probe by the DA’s office contends was rife with financial abuse.The distri...

GOP plans to block vote to replace Feinstein on Judiciary

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:04 GMT

By Ali Zaslav, Alayna Treene and Sydney Kashigawi | CNNSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday that he hopes to replace Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland and aims to set up a floor vote on the issue this afternoon, which Republicans are expected to block.Senate Democrats are seeking to temporarily replace Feinstein on the powerful panel that processes judicial nominees as the California Democrat remains absent, recovering from shingles.Feinstein, who has already announced she’s not seeking reelection, initially said she expected to return to Washington “by the end of the March work period,” but that her return got “delayed due to continued complications related to my diagnosis.”She recently said she plans to return “as soon as possible once my medical team advises that it’s safe for me to travel.”But her return date is still unclear and she asked just last w...

Alleged ‘brazen’ theft of startup’s documents should be Silicon Valley wake-up call, fired worker says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:04 GMT

A longtime Silicon Valley tech executive claims in a new lawsuit that a Mountain View financial-technology firm stole intellectual property from its San Francisco rival so easily that every startup should fear the same thing happening to them.Scott Ellison of Palo Alto alleges in his lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was wrongfully fired from Mountain View firm Stampli after reporting to its CEO that a newly hired executive had misappropriated documents from his former employer — a competitor in San Francisco named Front — and had given the materials to Stampli along with live links providing access into Front’s internal systems.“This to me is not just beyond wrong, it’s so brazen,” Ellison said in an interview.After finding the alleged live links, Ellison “wanted to throw up,” he said. What upset him most was realizing that he was looking at a vulnerability he believes is widespread among Silicon Valley startups, including Stampli, Elliso...

Powerball ticket worth $1.5M sold in Los Gatos still unclaimed ahead of deadline

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:04 GMT

(BCN) -- A Powerball ticket worth more than $1.5 million after being purchased in Los Gatos in October will expire next Monday if no one comes forward to claim it, California Lottery officials said Tuesday. The ticket bought at a Mobil gas station at 15380 Los Gatos Blvd. matched the five numbers --19, 36, 37, 46 and 56 -- from the Oct. 26 drawing, missing only the Powerball number 24. Judge tentatively OKs $725M Facebook settlement: How to apply for a payout The ticket is worth $1,556,855, but that money will instead go to public school funding if it is not claimed by Monday, according to lottery officials. Another ticket matching the same five numbers from the Oct. 26 drawing was also purchased in Southern California and has already been claimed. Whoever has the winning ticket should sign the back of it and then go to one of the California Lottery's nine offices around the state, including in Milpitas and Richmond in the Bay Area, to fill out a claim form. The winner can als...

Suspects in Palo Alto armed robberies arrested

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:04 GMT

(KRON) -- Three suspects who police believe committed two armed robberies within 25 minutes of each other on Monday night have been arrested, according to the Palo Alto Police Department. The suspects have also been connected to a third armed robbery that took place later in the evening in Milpitas.No one was physically injured in any of the robberies, police said. The three suspects were booked into jail on multiple felony counts. CHP releases more details on Eliyanah Crisostomo homicide The Palo Alto PD said the two initial robberies occurred in the south end of Palo Alto within 25 minutes of each other.The first robbery happened on the 1100 block of Trinity Lane at about 6:35 p.m. It happened after a "neighbor may have interrupted an auto burglary," PAPD said. Nobody was injured, and the suspects fled in a white SUV that may have been a Kia. Police said one suspect pointed a handgun as they were fleeing. An investigation revealed that a family of four had just returned home an...

Dominion Was Never Going to Save Our Democracy From Fox News

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:04 GMT

Lawyers representing Dominion Voting Systems talk to reporters outside the Leonard Williams Justice Center following a settlement with Fox News in Delaware Superior Court on April 18, 2023 in Wilmington, Del.Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesWill private equity save American democracy?That question, which has lurked behind the defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems filed against Fox News, was answered today in an unsurprising fashion: no.Fox and Dominion reached a $787.5 million settlement just moments before opening arguments were set to begin in the Delaware trial. A jury had been selected, and everyone was preparing for what seemed likely to be a six-week trial that would scrutinize Fox’s broadcasting of false conspiracy theories that Dominion machines stole votes from then-President Donald Trump. Dominion was seeking $1.6 billion in damages from Fox.The settlement is not a total shocker. Just days ago, there was a flurry of speculation that Fox wanted to settle, with the g...

4 killed in Maine home; 3 wounded in linked highway shooting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:04 GMT

BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — Four people were fatally shot at a house in Maine on Tuesday shortly before gunfire wounded three others on a busy highway, in a pair of crimes that are linked, authorities said. One person was in custody.Police closed a portion of the interstate highway and residents and businesses in the area were ordered to shelter in place for about 90 minutes before authorities determined there was no threat to the general public.Police declined to discuss possible motive or identify the person in custody, or the shooting victims. One of the highway victims was critically wounded, they said. The crimes began in rural Bowdoin, where the bodies were found, and continued with gunfire 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the south on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth, police said.Law enforcement officers, some carrying long rifles, could be seen canvassing areas near the highway after the shootings. At one point, heavily armed officers at an off-ramp peered inside the trunk of a car that had ...

Morant game-time decision for Grizzlies in Game 2 vs. Lakers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:04 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said Tuesday that two-time All-Star point guard Ja Morant suffered no ligament damage to his right hand in Memphis’ opening playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and will be a game-time decision Wednesday night for Game 2.Morant had an MRI on Monday that showed only bruising of the tissue between the bones as the fourth-year guard aggravated an injury from April 7 when Memphis clinched the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference during a win at Milwaukee. Jenkins said Morant is dealing with pain and soreness.“Symptoms are slightly improving from the other night,” Jenkins said after practice. “He’s going to be a game-time decision. He’s going to come in and get working in the morning and test it out, see how is feeling.”Morant appeared to bend his right hand as he landed after driving to the basket against Lakers center Anthony Davis. He was called for a charge with 5:48 left, writhed in pain, then ran toward the Grizzlies’ ben...

Republicans object to replacing Feinstein on Judiciary panel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans blocked a Democratic request to temporarily replace California Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, leaving Democrats with few options for moving some of President Joe Biden’s stalled judicial nominees.South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, objected to a resolution offered by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that would have allowed another senator to take Democrat Feinstein’s place on the panel while she recuperates from a case of shingles. She has been absent since February and her office has given no date for her return. Republicans have argued that Democrats only want a stand-in to push through the most partisan judges, noting that many of Biden’s nominees have bipartisan support and can move to the Senate floor for a vote. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that Republicans ...

How election lies, libel law were key to Fox defamation suit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:04 GMT

Fox News settled a major defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million on Tuesday, according to the voting machine company that sued the top cable news network.The settlement avoids a trial that could have shed additional light on former President Donald Trump’s election lies, revealed more about how the right-leaning network operates and even redefined libel law in the U.S. Here are some things to know about the case.___THE CASEDominion Voting Systems sued Fox for $1.6 billion, claiming the news outlet repeatedly aired allegations that the company’s voting machines were rigged against Trump in 2020 while knowing the accusations were untrue. Fox contended that it was reporting newsworthy charges made by supporters of the Republican president. The network said it was supported legally by libel standards.The judge in the case announced that the two parties had resolved the matter Tuesday, just as opening arguments were scheduled to begin. Fox did not reveal settlement terms, but D...