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Oakland Airport expecting over 210,000 passengers for Labor Day weekend

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:26 GMT

(BCN) -- Oakland International Airport is expecting passenger traffic to pick up starting Friday ahead of Labor Day weekend, Port of Oakland officials said. Over 210,000 travelers were expected to pass through the airport from Thursday until Tuesday for the Labor Day holiday weekend, the Port of Oakland said in a statement. This figure represents nearly 88 percent of the traffic levels observed at the airport pre-pandemic in 2019, port officials said. The busiest travel days at the airport are Friday and Monday, port officials said, adding that passengers should arrive early and check with their airline for real-time flight status information, especially if flying to destinations impacted by weather. Oakland mayor ‘frustrated’ over efforts to find new police chief Travelers are also encouraged to reserve their parking ahead of time. Passengers flying through OAK this weekend can enjoy several newly introduced passenger amenities at the airport, including the OAK Clubhouse,...

2 taken to hospital after VTA bus in San Jose catches fire

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:26 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- A Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) bus caught fire on Friday at a bus yard on Zanker Road, according to the San Jose Fire Department (SJFD). A battery on the electric bus ignited the fire, VTA officials said. The bus had no passengers at the time of the fire. Lockdown lifted at San Jose high school Two VTA mechanics attempted to put the fire out but initially failed. They then pushed the bus out of the maintenance bay to avoid further damage to the surrounding building, officials said.(San Jose Fire Department)As first responders were arriving on scene, nearby employees in the building were evacuated. Crews were eventually able to extinguish the fire on the bus (photo above).Two VTA mechanics suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to the hospital for treatment, the public transit agency said. The bus that caught fire was "damaged beyond repair."SJPD posted a video of crews responding to the bus that caught on fire. Watch the video in the media pla...

Burglary suspect arrested after head-on crash into Mountain View PD vehicle

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:26 GMT

(KRON) -- A burglary suspect who led police on a pursuit in a stolen car was arrested Friday morning after crashing head-on into a patrol vehicle, according to the Mountain View Police Department. Mountain View PD dispatch got a call around 3:30 a.m. regarding a possible burglary at an apartment complex on the 2200 block of Showers Drive. The caller, according to police, described the suspect vehicle as a white SUV. Responding officers spotted a car that matched that description -- a white Honda SUV -- leaving the complex. Oakland mayor ‘frustrated’ over efforts to find new police chief The car had been stolen out of a neighboring city, a quick records check confirmed.Officers attempted to pull the car over, but it took off on San Antonio Road. Officers gave pursuit but then terminated the pursuit when the car was spotted on southbound Highway 101. Patrol officers picked up a visual of the car again, taking the Old Middlefield Way exit off Highway 101. The SUV then began driving a...

Missing 76-year-old man located, according to Oakland PD

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:26 GMT

(BCN) -- A 76-year-old man who was reported missing Thursday has been located, according to the Oakland Police Department.Kehchung Tou was last seen around 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the 4000 block of Midvale Avenue and was driving a black 2022 Toyota Highlander with California license plate number 9AON160, police said. Air quality advisory issued through Thursday due to wildfire smoke Tou is described as a Chinese man standing 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 145 pounds and has gray and black hair, brown eyes and no facial hair. His family says he is in good physical condition but has been diagnosed with early stages of dementia, according to police."Kehchung Tou is no longer a missing person," said Oakland PD in a tweet. "He has been located."Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

840,000 Afghans who’ve applied for key US resettlement program still in Afghanistan, report says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 840,000 Afghans who applied for a resettlement program aimed at people who helped the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan are still there waiting, according to a report that lays out the challenges with a program intended to help America’s allies in the two-decade long conflict. The report released Thursday by the State Department’s inspector general outlines steps the department took to improve processing of special immigrant visas for Afghans. But two years after the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban to power, challenges remain.The visa program was started in 2009 to help Afghans who worked side-by-side with Americans and faced significant risks for doing so. A similar program exists for Iraqis. Both programs have been plagued by criticism that cases move much too slowly, leaving applicants in dangerous limbo.And since the U.S. left Afghanistan the number of people applying for the visas has skyrocketed. According to the...

Former Harrods’ owner Mohamed Al Fayed dies at 94

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:26 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Mohamed Al Fayed, former owner of the famed Harrods department store in London whose son was killed in a car crash with Princess Diana, has died, his family said. He was 94.Al Fayed, a self-made Egyptian businessman who was also a former owner of Fulham Football Club, was devastated by the death of son Dodi Fayed in the car crash in Paris with Princess Diana 26 years ago. He spent the rest of his life mourning the loss and fighting the British Establishment he blamed for their deaths.“Mrs Mohamed Al Fayed, her children and grandchildren wish to confirm that her beloved husband, their father and their grandfather, Mohamed, has passed away peacefully of old age on Wednesday August 30, 2023,″ his family said in a statement released by the Fulham Football club, which he once owned. “He enjoyed a long and fulfilled retirement surrounded by his loved ones.″Source

An explosion in Ecuador is seen as gangs asserting power after inmates take hostages

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:26 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Criminal groups in Ecuador used explosives Friday to damage a bridge, authorities said, demonstrating their grip on the South American country where prison inmates took dozens of law enforcement officers hostage less than two days earlier. Government officials described the violent acts as the work of criminal groups with members in prisons responding to efforts by authorities to regain control of several large correctional facilities by relocating inmates, seizing weapons and other steps. Four car bombs and three explosive devices went off across the country in less than 48 hours. The latest explosion with dynamite happened early Friday on a bridge linking two cities in the coastal province of El Oro, National Police commander Luis García told The Associated Press.Hours earlier, a domestic gas tank with wads of dynamite attached exploded under a different bridge in Napo province of Napo, located within Ecuador’s portion of the Amazon rainforest.During th...

Sabotage damages monument to frontiersman ‘Kit’ Carson, who led campaigns against Native Americans

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:26 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Police in New Mexico’s capital city on Friday were investigating the partial destruction of a public monument to a 19th century frontiersman and U.S. soldier who had a leading role in the death of hundreds of Native Americans during the settlement of the American West.The monument to Christopher “Kit” Carson has been encircled by a plywood barrier for its own protection since 2020, when Santa Fe was swept by the movement to remove depictions of historical figures who mistreated Native Americans amid a national reckoning over racial injustice.The monument’s upper spire was toppled Thursday evening. Photos of the aftermath showed an abandoned pickup truck and cable that may have been used to inflict damage. Last year, the monument was splattered with red paint by activists on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber issued a statement that described the latest damage as a “cowardly act.” “I want those who did this to be caught an...

Russia deploys ICBM that Putin says will make enemies ‘think twice’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:26 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — The head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said Friday that the country has deployed an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that President Vladimir Putin once said will make Russia’s enemies “think twice.”Agency head Yuri Borisov said Sarmat missiles have been placed on combat duty, according to Russian news agencies. Further details were not reported.The Sarmat is one of several advanced weapons whose development Putin announced in 2018. The silo-based missile, capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads, is intended to replace the R-36 ICBMs that are known by the NATO reporting name of Satan.The Sarmat reportedly has a short initial launch phase, allowing little time for surveillance systems to track it. In 2022, about two months after sending troops into Ukraine, Putin said the Sarmat would “reliably ensure the security of Russia from external threats and make those who, in the heat of aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country, think tw...

Hartford USL teams says league refuses to reschedule game despite COVID-19 outbreak

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:26 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Hartford’s USL team says the league refuses to reschedule its game Saturday despite an outbreak of COVID-19 that has sidelined 10 players.The Hartford Athletic soccer team posted on social media that those 10 players tested positive for the virus this week. That will leave the team with just 12 available players for its game at Tampa Bay, none of them goalkeepers.The team said despite asking the league and the Rowdies to reschedule, they have been told the game will go on.“We are beyond disappointed in this decision, which is in no way aligned with the spirit of competition and fails to put the best interests of the players, staff and fans first,” Hartford Athletic wrote in its statement.Email messages seeking comment from the league were not immediately returned. A spokesman for the Rowdies declined to comment.The game between the Athletic (4-18-4), who are in last place in the Eastern Conference, and Tampa Bay (14-6-5), which currently sits in se...