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The story behind Juneteenth and how it became a holiday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

Associated PressAmericans will soon celebrate Juneteenth, marking the day when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free.For generations, Black Americans have recognized the end of one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history with joy, in the form of parades, street festivals, musical performances or cookouts.The U.S. government was slow to embrace the occasion — it was only in 2021 that President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by Congress to set aside Juneteenth, or June 19th, as a federal holiday.And just as many people learn what Juneteenth is all about, the holiday’s traditions are facing new pressures — political rhetoric condemning efforts to teach Americans about the nation’s racial history, companies using the holiday as a marketing event, people partying without understanding why.Here is a look at the origins of Juneteenth, how it became a federal holiday and more about its history.HOW DID JUNETEENTH START?The celebrations began with en...

Oakland airport passenger activity rises as post-COVID rebound widens

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

OAKLAND — Oakland International Airport experienced an upswing in passenger traffic during April, a sign that the East Bay aviation hub has extended its recovery from the economic malaise created by the coronavirus.Nearly 938,400 air passengers traveled through Oakland Airport during April, which was an improvement on a month-to-month as well as a year-to-year basis, officials reported.The biggest challenge facing the aviation complex: Oakland International Airport has yet to soar back to the levels it enjoyed in 2019, the final full year before the outbreak of the coronavirus.The East Bay aviation hub isn’t alone among Bay Area airports in its struggle to reclaim its pre-coronavirus passenger activity levels.San Jose International Airport and San Francisco International Airport continue to cruise at passenger activity levels that are far below the altitudes they had reached prior to the onset of the coronavirus during the first half of 2020.Still, Oakland Airport is cle...

Pete Davidson isn’t the first star scolded by PETA for buying pet instead of adopting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

If Pete Davidson felt attacked by PETA this week over his decision to buy a new dog from a pet store instead of adopting one, he can perhaps take comfort in knowing that he’s not the first celebrity to be scolded by the animal rights organization for helping to fuel an overcrowding crisis of homeless dogs and cats at community shelters.Over the years, PETA has publicly rebuked a number of celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian for wearing fur or for otherwise flaunting lifestyle choices that the group says compromise animal welfare. More recently, the organization has called out Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber and Alec and Hilaria Baldwin for publicizing their ownership of so-called designer dogs and cats, which they would have purchased from upscale breeders.Alec and Hilaria Baldwin’s purchase of at least two Bengal cats from an upscale breeder in recent years was seen to be especially egregious, given that Hilaria Baldwin publicized th...

These are the world’s 20 most expensive cities for expats in 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

By Nurin Sofia | BloombergNew York has leapfrogged Hong Kong as the world’s most expensive city to live in as an expat, while skyrocketing rents saw Singapore crash into the top five, according to a new study.Soaring inflation and rising accommodation costs were cited as reasons for New York topping ECA International’s Cost of Living Rankings for 2023, while Geneva and London remained in third and fourth places.Singapore climbed from 13th place last year to break into the top five for the first time. That move bucks a general trend among Asian cities of slipping down the rankings, partly attributed to lower rates of inflation relative to other regions.Related ArticlesCalifornia News | Taxpayer moves to California drop by 11% in 5 years California News | Where do people go when they leave California and why? California News | Census: Bay Area population grew older, Asians are now largest racial group California News | How did...

Moderna, Pfizer sued over technology developed by Scripps researchers that made COVID-19 vaccine possible

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

Natallie Rocha | (TNS) The San Diego Union-TribuneSAN DIEGO — Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech were named in lawsuits Tuesday that accuse them of stealing a patented method developed by researchers from The Scripps Research Institute that made the COVID-19 vaccine possible.The two separate patent infringement lawsuits — one against Moderna for its Spikevax vaccine and one against Pfizer and its partner BioNTech for its Comirnaty vaccine — were filed in federal court in San Diego by Promosome. The firm, which has offices in San Diego and New York City, develops and commercializes discoveries from the late Nobel Prize laureate Gerald Edelman and Vincent Mauro both of whom conducted research at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla.As of late Tuesday, Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit.The patent at the center of the complaints is a novel method for modifying messenger RNA, or mRNA — which delivers instructions to a cell for protein production...

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas gets extension to disclose GOP megadonor’s gifts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

By Ariane de Vogue and Devan Cole | CNNJustice Clarence Thomas didn’t release his financial disclosure forms Wednesday when the majority of his Supreme Court colleagues did so, further blocking transparency amid a torrent of criticism over his failure to disclose years of lavish trips and a private real estate transaction with a GOP megadonor.The paperwork – mandated by federal law – requires members of the judiciary to publicly disclose their personal financial interest over the past year and detail income, investments, gifts and spousal salaries.The deadline to release the reports was Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, but justices are allowed to ask for an extension, and Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito did so, according to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.The move means that any official information about Thomas’ relationship with the donor, Texas real estate magnate Harlan Crow, may not be released until after the end of the current Supreme Court term, and major ruling...

Jasper Wu killing: Alameda County DA withdraws special-circumstances allegations against defendants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

OAKLAND — In a major shift on an already-contentious case, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price decided this week to withdraw special-circumstances allegations against the men accused of killing a 23-month-old toddler during a freeway shooting nearly two years ago on Interstate 880.The decision to no longer pursue those sentencing enhancements means the two remaining defendants in the case, Ivory Bivins and Trevor Green, would no longer be eligible for life in prison without the possibility of parole, if convicted of murder in the November 2021 killing.The move marks a distinct reversal from Price’s predecessor, former District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, who filed the special circumstances allegations while decrying the fatal shooting of 23-month-old Jasper Wu as a “horrible tragedy” that was “unthinkable” for the Bay Area. Along with removing the chance for parole, special circumstances allegations also make defendants eligible for the dea...

Police: Richmond, Virginia, gunman targeted graduating teen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

By Sarah Rankin and Denise Lavoie | Associated PressRICHMOND, Va. — A gunman who opened fire minutes after a high school graduation in Richmond, Virginia, targeted an 18-year-old graduate he had a long-running dispute with, police said Wednesday.Shawn Jackson, 18, and his father, Lorenzo Smith, 36, were both killed Tuesday in the shooting, which sent hundreds fleeing in panic outside the state capital’s city-owned Altria Theater after the graduation ceremony for Huguenot High School. Five other people were wounded in the shooting.Richmond Interim Police Chief Rick Edwards said the shooting suspect, Amari Pollard, 19, knew Jackson and the two had been embroiled in a dispute for more than a year. Edwards said the nature of the dispute is still being investigated.“This was targeted at one individual … that’s what we know at this time,” Edwards said during a news conference Wednesday.Pollard was arraigned Wednesday morning on two counts of second-degree mur...

President Biden coming to Bay Area this month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- President Joe Biden will be visiting the San Francisco Bay Area this month, according to an official release from the White House. The president will travel to the Bay Area on Monday, June 19 and remain in the area until Wednesday, June 21. SF leaders consider pause on cannabis shop applications The White House declined to release any additional details about the president's visit. President Biden was last in the region earlier this year, when he traveled to parts of California's Central Coast to visit areas devastated by severe storms this winter.First lady Dr. Jill Biden will be in the Bay Area a week ahead of the president when she will host a reception for the Biden Victory Fund in San Francisco.

Two charged with murder after Napa girl overdoses on fentanyl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:25 GMT

(KRON) -- The Napa County District Attorney filed murder charges against two Santa Rosa men who allegedly sold fentanyl to a Napa teenager. Monica Flores, 17, was found dead in the bedroom of her Napa home by her family on May 25, 2022.Charges filed against Alan Jazeel Martinez, 22, and Luis Fajardo Melgoza, 20, mark the first time in Napa County law enforcement's history that suspected fentanyl dealers were charged with murder for an overdose death, according to prosecutors. Martinez and Melgoza were also charged with selling a controlled substance to a minor; transportation for sale a controlled substance; possession for sale of a controlled substance; conspiracy to commit a crime; and child abuse likely to cause great bodily injury or death.Further, the District Attorney opted to charge the defendants with the following aggravatingfactors: violence, cruelty, viciousness, or callousness; vulnerable victim; inducing others to participate in a crime; inducing a minor to participate ...