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After deadly wildfires, Maui confronts the challenge of finding more than 800 missing people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:45 GMT

By Audrey McAvoy, Claire Rush and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher | Associated PressLAHAINA, Hawaii — Two weeks after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century swept through the Maui community of Lahaina, authorities say anywhere between 500 and 1,000 people remain unaccounted for — a staggering number for officials facing huge challenges to determine how many of those perished and how many may have made it to safety but haven’t checked in.Something similar happened after a wildfire in 2018 that killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise, California. Authorities in Butte County, home to Paradise, ultimately published a list of the missing in the local newspaper, a decision that helped identify scores of people who had made it out alive but were listed as missing. Within a month, the list dropped from 1,300 names to only a dozen.“I probably had, at any given time, 10 to 15 detectives who were assigned to nothing but trying to account for people who were unaccounted fo...

How to see Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in San Jose this week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:45 GMT

The most important gymnastics event before the Olympic trials is taking place in San Jose this week and tickets are still available to see Simone Biles in action at the SAP Center.Earlier this momth, Biles made a surprise return to gymnastics after taking a two-year hiatus to focus on her mental health and captured a landslide victory in the U.S. Classic in the suburbs of Chicago.She’ll headline a historic lineup at the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships beginning Thursday and going through Sunday.The competition begins Thursday morning, when the junior men will kick things off followed by the senior men in the evening.The women begin competing Friday, with the juniors in the morning and the seniors, including Biles and Sunisa Lee, competing in the evening. Tickets for Friday are available for as low as $45.The men will complete their competition on Saturday while the women will finish Sunday, when USA Gymnastics will crown winners and announce the national teams.Olympic rosters wil...

Scouting the teams in the preseason AP Top 25, from Georgia to Texas to Iowa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:45 GMT

A look at the preseason AP Top 25 from Georgia to Iowa:No. 1 Georgia2022 finish: 15-0, No. 1 final ranking.Key games: vs. South Carolina, Sept. 16; vs. Florida in Jacksonville, Oct. 28; vs. No. 22 Mississippi, Nov. 11; at No. 12 Tennessee, Nov. 18.Potential All-Americans: TE Brock Bowers, C Sedrick Van Pran; LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson, DB Javon Bullard.Outlook: The Bulldogs are favored to become the first team in The Associated Press poll era to win three straight national championships. While they must replace QB Stetson Bennett and three first-round NFL draft picks, Georgia is loaded on both sides of the line. The biggest question mark is who will start at quarterback, with Carson Beck appearing to have the inside track.No. 2 Michigan2022 finish: 13-1, No. 3.Key games: at Michigan State, Oct. 21; at No. 7 Penn State, Nov. 11; No. 3 Ohio State.Potential All-Americans: QB J.J. McCarthy; RB Blake Corum; OG Zak Zinter; CB Will Johnson.Outlook: The Wolverines are seeking their first nation...

Oakland: Jurors convict one man, acquit another in fatal beating of 75-year-old man

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:45 GMT

OAKLAND — An Alameda County jury convicted one man of murder and acquitted another in the 2021 beating death of a 75-year-old man, reaching a split verdict that still leaves one charge as an open-ended question.Teaunte Bailey, 28, who prosecutors say fatally beat 75-year-old Pak Ho in March 2021, was convicted of murdering and robbing Ho, and of robbing a man during a prior incident in Oakland, but Bailey’s co-defendant, 59-year-old Demetrius Britton, was acquitted of murder.During trial, prosecutors argued Britton was waiting in the truck while Bailey attacked Ho, but Britton’s attorney argued that his client was nowhere near the scene and that another man was actually behind the wheel.The jury failed to reach a verdict on the robbery count against Britton.In an interview with the Bay Area News Group, defense attorney David Briggs — who represented Britton — said that members of the jury informed him they were split 9-3 toward acquittal on the robbery count. Brigg...

UPS workers approve $30 billion labor contract lifting wages

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:45 GMT

By Thomas Black and Ian Kullgren | BloombergUnited Parcel Service Inc.’s union workers ratified a new five-year labor agreement delivering substantial wage increases, concluding a tense period of negotiating that drove the company to the brink of a strike.About 86% of employees voted to approve the deal, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said Tuesday in a statement, the union’s highest vote ever for a contract with UPS. It will go into effect after one local affiliate in Florida votes to ratify its supplemental agreement, the statement added.The pact, tentatively agreed to last month, covers about 340,000 unionized UPS workers and has about $30 billion of new money, the Teamsters have said.See more: Who’s on strike? Labor disputes, walkouts, protests are rampant in California“This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in the statement. “Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefit...

Column: In 1984, the NCAA dropped the ball, and college sports is still paying the price

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:45 GMT

Ken Sugiura | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)You may find this hard to believe.The opportunistic disassembly of the Pac-12 and the cannibalization of college athletics — it all can be traced to the NCAA’s failure to act with reason and foresight.Undoubtedly, university presidents and college athletics administrators get their share of the blame, too. They’ve chased a bigger slice of the pie and made a mockery of the notion of acting in the best interests of college athletes, let alone displaying the ideals of sacrifice and putting the group’s interests ahead of their own that college athletics is supposed to promote.But it started with — again, be prepared to be shocked — the NCAA’s unwillingness to share money and power. Chuck Neinas, a retired college athletics administrator, dared to butt heads with the NCAA as the leader of an entity known as the College Football Association.“You know what NCAA stands for?” Neinas asked. “No Compromise, Anytime, Anyplace.”Here’s the thrus...

University Taqueria brings pollo verde tacos, churros to Berkeley

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:45 GMT

Berkeley folks near the university have a new place to grab casual Mexican food: the appropriately named University Taqueria. It’s in its soft opening this month with a menu of tacos, burritos, quesadillas and churros.For the most part, the menu is pretty standard. (See below.) You have your super or Cali burritos with cheese, sour cream, beans and guacamole, which can be customized into bowls. Quesadillas come with melted cheese, pico de gallo, lettuce and guac. The tacos include carne asada, pollo asado, al pastor, shrimp and carnitas. On the less-usual side, there’s also pollo verde and the intriguing option to add “fajitas” to anything you order for $1.For dessert there are churros and slices of flan, and drinks include agua frescas, horchata and – presumably for students supercharging for tests – whole liters of Coke.University Taqueria takes over the space formerly occupied by chicken-sandwich spot El Pollo Picante. It’s so new it only has one review on Yelp,...

Accused Facebook killer enters plea in San Mateo County court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:45 GMT

(KRON) -- A man who investigators say recorded video of a homicide victim's last moments alive, and uploaded the gruesome video onto his Facebook page, appeared in a San Mateo County courtroom Monday for an arraignment.Mark Stephen Mechikoff, 39, of Pacifica, pleaded not guilty to murdering Claribel Estrella inside her San Mateo apartment on July 26. Mechikoff waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing before he was escorted out of the Hall of Justice courtroom. He remains locked up in a Redwood City jail with no bail. According to prosecutors, when Mechikoff stabbed Estrella to death, he felt proud of his crime, and wanted his Facebook friends to see what he had done. "He then filmed it and posted it on his Facebook account. She was on the ground, and still alive, still moving a little bit," District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told KRON4.Mark Merchikoff’s mugshot was released by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. Prosecutors added enhancements to the first-degree murder cha...

Forward progress stopped in vegetation fire burning near Post Costa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:45 GMT

(BCN) -- A vegetation fire near Port Costa in Contra Costa County was at 10 to 15 acres as of about 1:50 p.m. While initially, it was feared the fire could grow to 50 acres, forward progress on the blaze was halted as of 2:16 p.m. Fire officials said they have it boxed in with "retardant and roads," saying there are "abundant" resources on the scene. Person robbed, dragged by 2 armed suspects in Oakland: video Fire department officials said the fire is burning in steep terrain with difficult access. According to the fire monitoring site Watch Duty, the fire is a mile east of Port Costa Clay Products. Ground resources were accessing the fire via George Miller Trail and tankers are making drops. Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Andy Ogletree played the inaugural LIV event and now is finding his path on the Asian Tour

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:45 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Andy Ogletree was the U.S. Amateur champion without a place to play when he took part in the first LIV Golf event last year and was shut off from the PGA Tour. He didn’t have a contract with LIV and still doesn’t.But he found his place on the Asian Tour, particularly the “International Series,” a series of $2 million events with funding from LIV.Ogletree shot 64 at Close House in England on Sunday for his third International Series victory, and second this year.He has earned $887,370 in five International Series events this year. By comparison, Ben Kohles leads the Korn Ferry Tour with $504,828. Ogletree has practically locked up a spot in LIV Golf for 2024 by leading the International Series Order of Merit by a large margin.“I think the incentive to play well is pretty good. Getting a chance to play LIV Golf is what everyone’s here to do,” Ogletree said. “I want to be out there and feel like that’s where I want to be right now in the next phase of my life. So I’m doi...