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‘Flow trail’ proposal for Berkeley hills highlights challenges of building new paths for Bay Area hikers, bikers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:44:50 GMT

Chase White and Theo Lemkin are reduced to a blur while zipping through the Berkeley hills atop their mountain bikes.Whether riding for the Berkeley High School mountain bike team — believed to be the first of its kind nationally — or just a personal outing, the teenagers join hundreds of others who navigate trails in Wildcat Canyon, Tilden and other areas of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD).There’s one problem: they’re cramped for space.Bikes are technically only allowed on 18% of the narrow, unpaved trails in those parks — sharing 30 miles of multi-use trails and less than two miles of single-track routes wide enough for just one person with dozens of hikers, dog walkers and equestrians along the way.“There’s a lot of people walking their dogs who are scared of bikes and other people who just don’t enjoy having someone rush by them at 25 miles an hour,” said White, 17. “We often need to slow down or even walk to avoid people and not scare the oth...

3 DC-area baseball prospects among 2023 MLB Draft first round selections

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:44:50 GMT

Draft prospect Jonny Farmelo participates in the MLB baseball draft combine, Wednesday, June 21, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)(AP/Matt York) Draft prospect Jonny Farmelo participates in the MLB baseball draft combine, Wednesday, June 21, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)(AP/Matt York) Three D.C.-area baseball prospects — James Madison High School’s Bryce Eldridge, Westfield High School’s Jonny Farmelo and University of Maryland’s Matt Shaw — were selected in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft.Eldridge, who committed to the University of Alabama, was selected by the San Francisco Giants with the 16th overall pick. He once told WTOP that playing in the major leagues was a dream of ...

Union Pacific Railroad in tentative deal with union on paid sick leave

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:44:50 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — United Pacific railroad has reached a tentative deal with a major union regarding paid sick leave.The railroad and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers said that the deal reached over the weekend provides up to eight paid sick leave days to around 5,900 railroad employees.While all Union Pacific employees receive some form of paid leave, the proposed agreement will provide the union members an additional five paid sick days annually, prorated for 2023. Starting next year, they also will have the ability to convert up to three paid leave days for use as paid sick time.If ratified by workers, Union Pacific, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, will have paid sick leave agreements in place with all 13 of its labor unions, making it the second railroad in the industry to to do so.Last month Norfolk Southern was the first major North American freight railroad to reach deals to provide paid sick time to all of its workers.Othe...

Israeli troops kill alleged Palestinian gunman as West Bank violence persists

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:44:50 GMT

JERUSAELM (AP) — Israeli troops shot and killed an alleged Palestinian gunman during new unrest in the West Bank Monday, as a wave of violence in the occupied territory showed no signs of slowing.The Israeli military said troops stopped a motorist in Deir Nidham, a town west of Ramallah, to question him. It said the man got out of his car, threw a grenade and fired shots toward soldiers, who then opened fire. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that a 33-year-old man had been killed, but gave no further details.The death comes during a major spike in violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Last week, Israel concluded a fierce two-day offensive that used rare air power and hundreds of troops in what was designed as a crackdown against militants.But the operation in the Jenin refugee camp was followed by more bloodshed, including a shooting by a Palestinian assailant that killed an Israeli soldier. A Israeli military raid killed two militants, while a third Palestinian was...

Denver council to vote on pandemic relief checks for some parents

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:44:50 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Monday is the last city meeting for the current Denver City Council members. One of their final issues to vote on is allocating another round of pandemic checks for some Denver residents.The goal is to help with basic needs like housing, food, utilities, bills, transportation, childcare and/or healthcare for people who were not eligible for federal pandemic relief. Denver renter priced out of his 20-year home amid rising rent The council members are weighing a proposed contract with a nonprofit called Impact Charitable to provide Denver residents with one-time, direct cash assistance. People could receive $1,000 for the first child and, potentially, an additional $500 for households with multiple children.This would total $3 million through June 30, 2024.  Who is eligible for the pandemic relief checks? The resolution states the payments will be made to the head of household, who is not eligible for federally funded public benefits, and with at least one ch...

Putin hosted Russian mercenary leader Prigozhin at the Kremlin after short-lived mutiny

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:44:50 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin at the Kremlin days after the commander led a short-lived rebellion, a senior government spokesman said Monday, the latest twist in a baffling episode that has raised questions about the power and influence held by both men.The three-hour meeting took place on June 29 and also involved commanders from Prigozhin’s Wagner Group military contractor, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Putin gave an assessment of Wagner’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine — where the mercenaries have fought alongside Russian troops — and of the revolt itself. The Wagner forces pledged loyalty to Putin, according to Peskov.The confirmation that Putin met face-to-face with Prigozhin, who led troops on a march to Moscow last month in order to demand a change of defense minister, was extraordinary. Though the Russian leader branded Prigozhin a traitor as the revolt unfolded and vowed harsh punishment, the criminal case aga...

The huge blob of seaweed headed for Florida has shrunk by 75%

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:44:50 GMT

(CNN) — Florida vacations are back on, sans stinky seaweed.The record-breaking mass of stinky seaweed that began appearing on Florida’s iconic beaches this spring, known as the Great Atlantic Sargassum Seaweed Belt, shrunk in the Gulf of Mexico by 75% last month, according to scientists from the University of South Florida’s Optical Oceanography Lab.The seaweed, which smells like rotten eggs and emits toxic gases when it comes ashore, proved a nuisance for Florida beachgoers in the spring – which is also the start of the Sunshine State’s tourist season. In April, the seaweed set a record, with scientists identifying 3 million tons of sargassum in the Caribbean Sea.And while scientists expected the mass would shrink in June, last month’s dramatic decrease in the Gulf of Mexico was “beyond expectation,” according to a bulletin from the Optical Oceanography Lab.“Very little Sargassum was found by the end of June in the Straits of Florida and along the east coast of Florida,” the b...

Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld ‘most likely’ won’t run in 2024

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:44:50 GMT

Top Dutch European Parliament member Sophie in ‘t Veld is facing the end of a two-decade parliamentary career after Volt, the party she just joined, rejected her candidacy for the 2024 European election.Last month, in ‘t Veld quit her Dutch liberal party D66, citing policy disagreements, and joined Volt, a federalist movement with parties in all EU countries. But after making the switch, she needed a special dispensation to become a Volt candidate for 2024 as she had not been a party member for the requisite three months.Last week, the Dutch board of Volt rejected her request. “We have received a lot of WhatsApp messages, e-mails, calls, Workplace messages and letters in which Volt NL members shared their concerns about how we would deal with the possibility of granting dispensation,” Board co-Chair Rob Keijers wrote to members in a letter shared with POLITICO.“It’s their decision. There’s not a whole lot I can do about it,” in ‘t Veld told POLITI...

Thanks to viral megatests, a ‘cold’ may not be so common anymore

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:44:50 GMT

(CNN) — Got a stuffy nose and a cough? If you go to an urgent care or ER, chances are that you may be able find out exactly what type of germ is making you sick, thanks to newer tests that don’t look for just one pathogen at a time but sometimes screen for 18 to 20 viruses and bacteria.Use of these so-called multiplex tests has become more common in recent years. They were especially handy last fall and winter, when the US was contending with surges of at least three respiratory infections at the same time: Covid-19, respiratory syncytial virus and the flu.They help doctors in busy settings make faster diagnoses, but experts say they can also be a mixed blessing. On one hand, you may be able to identify exactly which virus or viruses are making you sick. On the other, it may not do you or your doctor much good, since most viruses don’t have any specific treatments.And it can add to patient angst. If it’s no longer just a cold, it’s adenovirus or bocavirus – what exactly do...

Erdogan says Turkey could approve Sweden’s NATO membership if Europeans ‘open way’ to EU membership

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:44:50 GMT

By KARL RITTER and SUZAN FRASER (Associated Press)VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday introduced a new condition for approving Sweden’s membership in NATO, calling on European countries to “open the way” for Turkey to join the European Union.The surprise announcement by Erdogan before departing to a NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital added new uncertainty to Sweden’s bid to become the alliance’s 32nd member, which Turkey initially blocked saying Sweden was too soft on Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara considers security threats.It was the first time that Erdogan linked his country’s ambition to join the EU with Sweden’s efforts to become a NATO member.“Turkey has been waiting at the door of the European Union for over 50 years now, and almost all of the NATO member countries are now members of the European Union,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul. “I am makin...