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Former Richmond police sergeant who fired gun at Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco sentenced for felony

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:25:08 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — A former Richmond Police Department sergeant received a two-year felony formal probation Monday after violating the terms of his guilty plea in 2021, authorities said.San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced the sentence against Phillip Sanchez in a statement. Sanchez pled guilty in 2021 to a felony vandalism charge after authorities said he fired his gun several times while intoxicated at San Francisco’s Four Seasons Hotel in 2017.The incident caused $3,368 in damages, Jenkins said.“I am thankful that no one was hurt as a result of Mr. Sanchez’s dangerous behavior,” Jenkins said in her statement. “Recklessly discharging his weapon put lives in danger and undermined the public’s trust in law enforcement whose basic responsibility is to ensure public safety. This sentence sends a message that law enforcement officers who violate the law will be held accountable.”Previous San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin had ...

Pac-12 football: Our post-spring practice projections for the 2023 conference race

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:25:08 GMT

Spring practice has ended, the transfer portal is closed, staff changes are complete, and the most anticipated Pac-12 season in recent memory is four short months away.As was the case in January, the conference looks loaded at the top, with at least four teams — and as many as six — expected to appear in the AP preseason poll.The bottom should be more competitive, as well, thanks to coaching changes at Colorado, Stanford and Arizona State.How do we see the conference race at this point?Welcome to our post-spring projections.1. Washington. Four months after the original forecast, we see no reason to remove UW from its frontrunner position. Transfer portal exits should have limited impact; spring practice brought no serious injuries; and the staff remains intact. The Huskies will field a powerhouse attack with Michael Penix Jr. taking aim at the Heisman Trophy, while the defense possesses two elite edge rushers in Zion Tupuola-Fetui and Bralen Trice. Are there weaknesses? ...

TSA employee suspended after video shows him yanking dog off the ground

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:25:08 GMT

A TSA employee has been suspended after social-media outrage over his treatment of a bomb-sniffing dog in Detroit’s airport, the agency said.A statement released Monday by the Transportation Security Administration says, in part: “The behavior displayed by this handler is unacceptable and not within the high standards we hold our officers to.”It said he has been “removed … from handling duties pending completion of an investigation.”A 90-second video posted Sunday to Twitter shows a man walking the German shorthaired pointer back and forth across a 40-foot-wide section of concourse at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. Several times, he shortens the leash and yanks hard enough to lift the dog’s front paws off the floor and cause the animal to scramble for traction.  The video had been viewed 2.4 million times on Twitter as of Monday morning.The agency’s statement identified the man only as “a TSA explosive detection canine hand...

Best and worst US cities for remote work job openings

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:25:08 GMT

By Matthew Boyle | BloombergRemote jobs are still plentiful, but these days you have to know where to look.The most remote-friendly city isn’t San Francisco or San Jose, California, but Bloomfield, Connecticut, headquarters of insurer Cigna Group, where nearly half of job vacancies offer some freedom to work from home. It’s followed by Augusta, the capital of Maine, and Dover, Delaware, according to a team of researchers who analyzed the share of job vacancies that specifically allow working from home at least one day a week. The top ten isn’t limited to cities in the Northeast; also making the cut are Lansing, Michigan, and Helena, Montana.Those seeking remote jobs should steer clear of Burleson, Texas, along with Olive Branch, Mississippi, and Mount Juliet, Tennessee.With many companies slowing hiring, conducting layoffs and getting stricter about return-to-office policies, there’s concern that remote jobs are getting more scarce. The data, from academics including Stanford Univer...

2 found dead in crashed stolen car following San Joaquin County police chase

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:25:08 GMT

By Victoria Franco | Bay City NewsThe Lodi Police Department said Monday morning that two suspects who had allegedly fled from officers earlier in the day were found dead inside a crashed stolen vehicle, and that one stolen car remains missing.Officers were dispatched at 12:52 a.m. to the area of Palm Avenue and California Street, after two suspicious males carrying flashlights were seen getting out of a white vehicle.Police said as officers arrived, two white vehicles were seen leaving the area following one another.Authorities said officers witnessed several traffic violations by the vehicles and an officer tried to pull over one of the cars.However, police said both vehicles fled in separate directions and a pursuit was initiated on one of them.Police said that the vehicle fled from officers at a high rate of speed, but the chase was terminated after the driver turned off the vehicle’s lights.About 30 minutes after the pursuit ended, officers said they were dispatched to Peterson...

Iran executes 2 accused of blasphemy

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:25:08 GMT

By Mostafa Salem | CNNIran hanged two people on Monday who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy, according to the judiciary news agency Mizan.Yusef Mehrdad and Sadrullah Fazeli Zare were arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to death in April 2021 for running online “anti-Islam groups and channels,” Mizan said.Authorities convicted both after they were found to be members of a Telegram channel titled “Critique of Superstition and Religion,” according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.Members of the Telegram channel allegedly shared opinions insulting Islam. One member allegedly said that they set religious books on fire, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom claimed. Iran’s state-run AlAlam said Mehrdad was filmed burning the Quran.Zare and Mehrdad were denied family visits and phone calls for eight months after their arrest. Mehrdad reportedly went on hunger strike in February 2022 to protest the authorities’...

Lender winds up as owner of foreclosed San Jose hotel project site

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:25:08 GMT

SAN JOSE — A San Jose hotel project site whose development future is murky due to coronavirus-linked economic woes is now owned by a unit of the property’s lender after the formal completion of a real estate foreclosure.The proposed hotel development would consist of 200 rooms and is located in north San Jose’s Alviso district near the Topgolf entertainment, dining and golfing hub.Pine Tree Investment & Management, a South Korea-based real estate firm that acted through an affiliate, now is the owner of the hotel development land, documents filed on May 4 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.Through a trustee’s deed, the affiliate of Pine Tree Investment paid $27.6 million to buy the land in the wake of a foreclosure proceeding. The hotel site is located at 7 Top Golf Drive in San Jose.A different South Korea-based firm, operating as Mirae-San Jose, paid $22.5 million in 2019 for the hotel site, which consists of 3.2 acres of land.San Jose c...

Search continues as Congo flood death toll nears 400

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:25:08 GMT

By Justin Kabumba | Associated PressGOMA, Congo — The death toll from floods in eastern Congo has almost doubled, reaching close to 400 people as of Sunday, according to a local official.The administrator of the worst-affected area, the Kalehe territory of South Kivu province, told The Associated Press by phone that more bodies were recovered Sunday, including many found floating in Lake Kivu.Administrator Thomas Bakenge said the confirmed number of dead stood at 394 but it was a provisional count since the search was continuing. More than 300 victims had been buried as of Sunday, local groups said.Torrential rains across Kalehe territory began on Thursday evening. Rivers broke their banks, with flash floods sweeping away the majority of buildings in the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi, causing the huge loss of life.Delphin Birimbi, a civic leader in Kalehe, said he understood that thousands of people remained missing. He told the AP that some doctors arrived to treat the injured...

Palo Alto injury crash closes Alma Street in both directions

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:25:08 GMT

(KRON) -- Alma Street in Palo Alto is closed in both directions due to an injury crash, according to the Palo Alto Police Department. Officers with Palo Alto PD and the Palo Alto Fire Department are investigating the crash and Alma is closed between Seale Avenue and Rinconada Avenue, police said. T-Mobile closes flagship Union Square store Drivers are advised to take alternate routes to avoid delays and to expect temporary traffic increases in surrounding neighborhoods.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Former Richmond police sergeant sentenced for drunkenly firing gun at hotel

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:25:08 GMT

(KRON) -- A former Richmond police sergeant was sentenced Monday stemming from a 2017 incident where he drunkenly fired his gun several times at a Four Seasons hotel on Market Street, the San Francisco District Attorney's office announced. In 2021, Phillip Sanchez pleaded guilty to felony vandalism charges associated with the incident. Monday, he was charged with two years of felony probation for violating the terms of his guilty plea, officials said. The shots caused $3,368 in damages.KRON4 previously reported that the incident happened just before 5 a.m. while Sanchez was off-duty. Police said Sanchez did not immediately cooperate with arresting officers and prompted a shelter in place at the hotel. Sanchez was eventually taken into custody and placed on administrative leave from the Richmond Police Department. No injuries were reported from the shooting.Sanchez was originally granted a one-year Deferred Entry of Judgement grant where he was ordered to go to therapy, abstain from ...