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California tax forecast falls $58 billion short, signaling cuts

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:25:45 GMT

By Eliyahu Kamisher | BloombergCalifornia’s tax revenue fell short of forecasts as expectations of a tax windfall late in the year failed to materialize, the nonpartisan budget advisor office said.The forecast on Friday by the Legislative Analyst’s Office said California’s tax revenue is expected to be $58 billion lower than earlier projections for the current and upcoming fiscal year. The state had expected a surge of tax payments in October and November due to delays in the tax filing deadline caused by natural disasters.“With the recent receipt of various postponed tax payments, the impact of recent economic weakness and last year’s financial market distress on state revenues has become clearer,” the LAO said. “The postponed payments came in much weaker than anticipated.”The latest update means California will face another difficult budget year that could force the state to cut back on services and tap into its rainy day fund. In July, California approved a $311 billion budget fo...

Post-Thanksgiving, the big three respiratory viruses are rising, but there’s still less of it than last year

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:25:45 GMT

Turkey dinners with family and friends may be in the rearview, but COVID and influenza hospitalizations are both on the rise post-Thanksgiving — though less than at this time last year.California ended its state of emergency for COVID-19 in February, and just this week the California Department of Public Health quietly replaced the state’s COVID dashboard with a new respiratory virus dashboard that tracks hospital admissions, deaths and test positivity rates for COVID and influenza side-by-side, marking COVID’s gradual evolution to an endemic virus, like the flu.The new site appeared Friday, released as we embark on our fourth winter respiratory virus season with COVID in the mix.“COVID is still the main cause of new hospitalizations and deaths nationally … and I think what we see at UCSF is a reflection of that,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco.Chin-Hong said about 20 people currently are hospitalized with COVID...

Why has price of hydrogen fuel jumped so high? Roadshow

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:25:45 GMT

Q: I was wondering if you knew what’s been going on with the hydrogen market? When we bought our Toyota Mirai in August 2022, hydrogen cost just over $16 a liter. Today, it’s nearly $36, more than doubled. Do you know why that is? Any possibility that it’ll drop again in the near future?Also, the half-dozen hydrogen stations in the greater San Jose area seem to be offline an awful lot, especially lately. Half the time we can’t even pay the high prices if we wanted to! It’s really becoming an inconvenience. Do you know of any plans for additional stations to open in San Jose? What about Morgan Hill and Gilroy?— Jeff Wagner, San JoseA: I’m looking to Roadshow readers who know more about the hydrogen market to weigh in on this one. Our daughter drove a hydrogen-powered car for a few years and also found the refueling very inconvenient at times.Q: In a recent article, you posted a question from Lori McBride that she took an online course for the...

26 kids were buried alive in Northern California. A new documentary shows how one plotted their escape – and what happened years later

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:25:45 GMT

By Holly Yan | CNNIn 1976, gunmen stormed a school bus carrying 26 children – ages 5 to 14 – and their bus driver in Chowchilla, California. As part of a ransom plot, they drove the hostages into a rock quarry and forced them into what could have become a mass grave: a moving van soon to be covered with 6 feet of dirt.Almost 50 years on, those students have become unwitting pioneers in what child trauma can look like decades later. Now, the new CNN Film, “Chowchilla,” delves into how the largest mass kidnapping in US history became a catalyst for change.There’s the 14-year-old hero who devised a cunning escape to free the hostages – but didn’t get due credit and spiraled down a dark chasm of substance abuse.There’s the 10-year-old girl who comforted other terrified kids, then spent decades confronting the kidnappers at parole hearings until the agony became too much to bear.And there’s the 6-year-old boy who fought relentless nightmares and all-encompassing anger before finding unex...

Basketball roundup: Archbishop Mitty girls, De La Salle boys among Saturday’s winners

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:25:45 GMT

Girls basketballNo. 1 Archbishop Mitty 95, St. Joseph’s-Santa Maria 63The reigning NorCal Open Division champions and undisputed top team in the Bay Area started its season with a dominant victory over St. Joseph’s-Santa Maria. Mitty’s two superstars were unstoppable. Super-sophomore McKenna Woliczko had 33 points and 15 rebounds, and point guard Morgan Cheli had 22 points, 11 assists and five rebounds in her first game since announcing her college commitment to perennial power UConn. Elana Weisman had 16 points, and Belle Bramer scored 12 after sitting out all of last season. Priory 62, Windsor 27Priory 71, Pinole Valley 31After losing the first game at the Cardinal Newman Classic, Priory rebounded with a pair of easy victories over other NorCal opponents. In the first game, Adelaide Chan finished the game with 21 points and 10 steals, while forward Ugreat Daniels had 23 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Sasha Johnson scored 10 points and had three steals. In the next game against P...

President Biden is heading to Hollywood for a major fundraiser featuring Steven Spielberg and Shonda Rhimes

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:25:45 GMT

President Joe Biden will head to Los Angeles next week for a big-dollar event that will be his first since strikes by writers and actors effectively ground his fundraising to a halt in the heart of the entertainment industry, which has long served as the ATM for the Democratic Party.The event next Friday at the home of Michael Smith, a celebrity interior designer, and his partner James Costos, a former HBO executive who was President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Spain, is expected to raise millions and draw a star-studded crowd. Rocker Lenny Kravitz is slated to perform.Director Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, who starred in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” are among the hosts of the event, as are recording industry mogul David Geffen, “Scandal” showrunner Shonda Rhimes and “This is Spinal Tap” director Rob Reiner, according to an invitation obtained by The Associated Press.Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is also a co-host. Barbra Streisand is set to...

33-year-old felon arrested in 3 homeless killings and follow-home slaying in Southern California

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:25:45 GMT

A 33-year-old Los Angeles man has been arrested on suspicion of killing three homeless people sleeping alone around the city at night.Jerrid Joseph Powell, a convicted felon, also is accused in a follow-home killing in San Dimas earlier this week, authorities said at a Saturday, Dec. 2 news conference.This photo released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department shows suspect Jerrid Joseph Powell after he was linked to several homicide investigations in Los Angeles on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department via AP)Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook, left, Mayor Karen Bass, and Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore announce the arrest of a suspect in three recent killings of homeless men, on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna announces the arrest of a suspect in three recent killings of homeless men, on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dova...

No SEC? Unbeaten P5 but left out? Final 4-team College Football Playoff will be unlike any other

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:25:45 GMT

The four-team version of the College Football Playoff is going out with drama and controversy.Championship weekend created as many questions as answers for the CFP committee and the selections Sunday will be the first in the 10-year history of the system where the field is truly hard to predict.No. 2 Michigan (13-0) and No. 3 Washington (13-0) appear to be safely in. There are three — and maybe even four — teams in contention for the final two spots that in most years would have cruised into the CFP.Not this year. And it won’t be a problem next year when the playoff expands to 12 teams.No. 4 Florida State (13-0), No. 7 Texas (12-1) and No. 8 Alabama (12-1) gave the 13-member committee a lot to think about Saturday night.The Seminoles finished a perfect regular season with an Atlantic Coast Conference championship, leaning on their defense to beat No. 15 Louisville while playing a third-string, freshman quarterback.No unbeaten Power Five champion has ever been left out of the C...

As host of UN COP28 climate talks, the autocratic UAE now allowing limited protests and critics in

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:25:45 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Participants at the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks Sunday found themselves greeted by the rarest sights in the United Arab Emirates — public protests. From the largest demonstration seen in the UAE since the start of the raging Israel-Hamas war to environmental issues, activists allowed into the UAE can protest under strict guidelines in this autocratic nation inside the summit. Meanwhile, human rights researchers from organizations long banned by the country also have been let in, providing them some the opportunity for the first time in about a decade to offer criticism — though many acknowledge it may see them never allowed back in the country.“One of our major issues with COP28 is the fact that the UAE government is using this to burnish its image internationally and the fact that limited protests are allowed … is a good thing,” said Joey Shea, now on her first trip to the Emirates as a researcher focused on the country at Huma...

Aeropuerto de Múnich reanuda operaciones: algunos vuelos siguen cancelados por las fuertes nevadas

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:25:45 GMT

BERLÍN – El aeropuerto de Múnich reanudó la actividad esta mañana de domingo tras verse obligado a cancelar el sábado todas las operaciones debido a las fuertes nevadas registradas en el sur de Alemania, aunque dos tercios de los vuelos previstos para este domingo no podrán realizarse. “Las operaciones de vuelo se reanudaron a las 4:00 p.m. Seguirá habiendo restricciones en el tráfico aéreo. Por ello, recomendamos a los viajeros que vuelen este domingo que comprueben el estado de su vuelo con su compañía aérea con tiempo suficiente antes de desplazarse al aeropuerto”, escribe el aeropuerto en su portal en internet.Según precisó un portavoz del aeropuerto, citado por la cadena regional BR, alrededor de 560 de los 880 vuelos previstos este domingo en el aeropuerto de Múnich serán cancelados. El primer avión en despegar esta mañana, a las 8.28 a.m. (6:28 GMT), fue un vuelo de la aerolínea alemana Lufthansa con destino Berlín. Tormenta de nieve causa caos...