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Letters: Readers respond to gun violence at East High and in Nashville

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:02 GMT

Violence against children and at school spark outpouring of concern, rageRe: “3 children, 3 adults dead,” March 28 news storyAlthough normally, I’d never watch a video of a shooting, I did just now of the Nashville, Tenn., school event. I do truly praise the officers who went in and did their job so effectively. But my heart aches for the children in that building who will have to endure reliving this trauma for who knows how long, not to mention the trauma of losing three schoolmates and three adults from the school. The Colorado legislature needs to act now on an assault-style weapons ban as well as other significant gun control (background and age limitations for purchase). I so fear for my three small grandchildren who may have to undergo “active shooter” drills in their classroom. This should not be a part of their education!Catherine Englekirk, Castle RockAnd once again we lower caskets into the waiting earth.The small ones are the most conspicuou...

Register now: Why we need more Europe, and experts, in tacking the implementation gap in cancer – Can.HEAL Stakeholder Event, 26-27 April, 2023

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:02 GMT

The upcoming Can.HEAL Stakeholder event on April 26th/27th argues for an optimistic view of change. It will be an informed reflection on issues of major importance to Europe in tackling cancer for all its citizens: health, healthcare, and the science and policies that govern tackling the implementation gap.  It is a stakeholder driven event, writes EAPM Executive Director Dr. Denis Horgan. The conference starts in the form of setting the scene, which demonstrates, effective policy-making – and effectively influencing policy – depends on a clear-headed recognition that change is continuous in 'access and diagnostics for all' as well as public health genomics. This means that adaptability and the capacity to see opportunities in a changing landscape is vital if successful decisions are to result.It requires the ability to discern how advances in human understanding of science and society can be mobilised to generate benefits for cancer patients as well as heal...

Opinion: Farmers are fighting for our rights to repair our iPhones

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:02 GMT

The average Tesla-driving, iPhone-using suburbanite isn’t spending a lot of time worrying about tractor software payloads. They should, though.Fixing a broken-down farm tractor used to take just a wrench set and some elbow grease. Now repairs might require a mobile-device interface, online diagnostic tools and secure software updates, too. And that stuff isn’t just sitting around in the barn. It’s mostly held at a shrinking number of manufacturer-authorized dealerships. As a result, simple breakdowns that in the past might have been repaired in hours can now take days or weeks. During busy times, such as spring planting, long delays can harm a farm’s crops and profitability.This spring, at least 11 states are trying to fix this problem. At least one — Colorado — will likely succeed. The solution, known as a right-to-repair law, guarantees that farmers and independent repair shops will have access to the same tools, software and manuals as “authorized” service centers.The impac...

Opinion: When past waves of American violence inspired action

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:02 GMT

The murders of three children and three staff members at a school in Nashville on Monday was at least the 129th mass shooting of 2023. That’s a rate of 1.5 mass shootings, involving four or more victims, each day of the year.The constant barrage can sow feelings of hopelessness in the majority of us who would rather not have a country where there are more guns than people and where gun violence is now the leading cause of death in children.Hopelessness is precisely what manufacturers of those weapons and lobbyists in the NRA want: that we give up and give in, quietly consenting to the vile dogma that periodic bloodbaths are just another “price of freedom.”The first step in avoiding such resignation is to realize that we are living through an unusual surge in interpersonal violence, not an unbroken “normal” that stretches back to 1776.To be sure, we’ve had other bloody peaks in our history. One began soon after the Revolution, when high-strung gentlemen aped European aristocrats by s...

Monterey County man sentenced to 50 years in prison for five counts of child molestation

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:02 GMT

SALINAS – A Salinas man was sentenced to 50 years in prison this week for sexually assaulting a minor under the same household over the course of several years, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.Monterey County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Hulsey sentenced Angel De Jesus Carmona, 31, to half a century behind bars for committing five counts of forcible lewd act upon a child under 14 years old, the DA’s Office said in a press release. All offenses are violent felonies and considered “strikes” under California’s Three Strikes law.According to the DA’s Office, Carmona repeatedly sexually assaulted Jane Doe, a female household member, over the course of several years. In May 2022, Doe told her mother about the sexual abuse, which investigators said had been going on since she was 9 years old.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Former California cop who sexually abused children pleads guilty, escapes prison sentence Crime and Public...

Marin’s Jerry Harrison to help Talking Heads’ music remain in light at Mill Valley Music Festival

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:02 GMT

It had been a long day of music at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival this past October, but there was one last band I wanted to see before heading home: Marin’s own Jerry Harrison, a former member of the Talking Heads, and King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew playing songs from the Talking Heads’ groundbreaking 1980 album “Remain in Light.”There were a few other people who wanted to see them as well — an expectant crowd estimated at more than 50,000 filled every square inch of grass from the stage into the far reaches of Golden Gate Park.On that crisp fall evening, there was a rare feeling of community in the air as Harrison, Belew and their kinetic band — a powerhouse 11 pieces in all — unspooled spirited renditions of Talking Heads songs, hits such as “Once in a Lifetime,” “Psycho Killer” and “Take Me to the River,” that fans of the seminal new wave band hadn’t heard played live for ages.Harrison had felt this magical connection between the band and its audiences from the firs...

Marin police seize weapons stockpile in traffic stop of East Bay man

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:02 GMT

An East Bay man was arrested in Mill Valley on Thursday with a trove that included guns, ammunition, a sword, a booby trap and a white plastic face mask, police said.The arrest happened after a traffic stop at 2:30 a.m. at Miller Avenue and Almonte Boulevard. Mill Valley police Cpl. Michael Puccetti stopped the car because it had a malfunctioning headlamp, said Sgt. Shaun McCracken.Puccetti noticed some of the suspicious items, searched the vehicle and found the rest of the stockpile. The booby trap was a device intended to hold a shotgun shell that would deploy if someone tripped the wire, McCracken said.Related ArticlesCalifornia News | Two alleged gang members arrested in Oakland party shooting where teenaged brothers were gunned down California News | Oakland police hit with scathing report, more fallout from misconduct scandal California News | Second suspect in East Bay homicide arrested California News | Berkeley woma...

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis surveys storm damage in Pajaro

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:02 GMT

PAJARO – Amid a backdrop of submerged strawberry fields, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis toured the Monterey County community of Pajaro, which is still feeling the impacts of the March 11 levee breach that has left the community flooded.Kounalakis joined Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church, Cal Fire employees, agricultural representatives and community leaders Wednesday evening for a tour of the community and to meet with farmers affected by the flood.On March 11, three months of heavy rains caused a breach in the Pajaro River levee, causing extensive flooding to the area and evacuations of its 2,000 residents, many of whom returned to damaged homes.During her Wednesday visit to Pajaro Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis listens to CalFire officials recount their rescue efforts during the flood. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel) One of the largest impacts has been on the agricultural industry, which is very prevalent in northern Monterey County. As fields have flooded, many farms...

Former San Jose man involved in Santa Cruz 2019 summer shootings sentenced

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:02 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — A former San Jose man was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison Thursday for his role in several Santa Cruz shootings.Michael Day, 22, pleaded no contest in November as part of a plea deal that led to him testifying earlier this year during his friend’s attempted murder trial. As part of his testimony, Day detailed how he and former codefendant Enrique Rocha had grown up together and been associated with the same Santa Cruz gang. The shootings, he said, were part of the “work” the two put in, in order to defend their territory against rival gang members.Day had pleaded to charges of attempted murder, unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior juvenile conviction, assault with a firearm and participation in criminal gang activity, all felonies. Judge Paul Burdick handed down the negotiated sentence, which totaled 15 years, four months, minus more than four years of jail credit time. Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Former California cop who sex...

Highway 9 at Holiday Slide set to reopen Friday

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:51:02 GMT

The Holiday Slide off of Highway 9 near Ben Lomond is set to reopen to one-way traffic at 10 a.m. Friday following inspection assessments after recent rains, according to a release from Caltrans.A temporary signal system has been put in place to direct traffic as repair work continues, but travelers can expect delays on this route as a second temporary signal system was already put in place just south of this location at Highway 9.Related ArticlesTransportation | Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis surveys storm damage in Pajaro Transportation | 5 great places to see California’s wildflower season, possibly the best in 20 years Transportation | Marin waterfalls draw visitors following historic rains Transportation | Latest storm piles more snow on California mountains Transportation | Staying safe in lightning storms: Tips about phones, toilets, cars, concrete The section of roadway between lower Glen Arbor ...