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California to audit its regulation of addiction treatment facilities 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:59 GMT

California’s low-level regulation of addiction treatment and rehabilitation facilities that make it almost impossible to properly track them is under scrutiny as the state auditor’s office embarks on an audit of the Department of Health Care Services.The audit, requested by Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, will “determine if DHCS is properly licensing, regulating and enforcing state laws” regarding residential facilities that provide nonmedical recovery, treatment and detoxification service.“It is regrettable how much these facilities are taking advantage of vulnerable people — people who actually need help,” Dixon said. “Unfortunately, these facilities advertise treatment for alcohol or drug abuse recovery or treatment services and more often than not provide limited care. We need more accountability on who is licensed and if the treatment programs provided are effective.”The audit requests information on how DHCS is licensing and enforcing laws on facilities that provi...

Asiana Airlines Flight 214 remembered 10 years later

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:59 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Ten years ago today, on July 6, 2013, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 arriving from Seoul, South Korea crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport. The plane, Asiana Flight 214, had 307 passengers on board.Three Chinese teenagers who were aboard the plane were killed in the crash. About half of the people aboard the plane -- 291 passengers and 16 crew members -- were injured. Flight diverted to Oakland after AirDropped bomb threat The plane clipped a seawall on the approach to SFO, causing it to burst into flames on the runway. Video released several years after the crash shows the chaos in the immediate aftermath of the crash as slides were deployed and rescue crews rushed to the scene. Two of the teens who died in the crash were sitting in the tail section of the plane, which snapped off when it hit the seawall. The third who died was run over by two rescue workers while laying injured and covered in foam on the runway.The Aviati...

Threads Day One impressions: What can it do, what can't it do, and is it the 'Twitter killer?'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:59 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) -- Instagram and Facebook's parent company, Meta, dropped its newest social media platform on Wednesday evening: A real-time text-based app called Threads. Threads was created by Instagram's team of developers as a way to challenge Elon Musk's volatile Twitter. In a time when Musk set limits to how many posts an account on Twitter can see, Threads seeks to be a place for Twitter to flock to as a replacement. What to know about the invasive Elm Seed Bugs running rampant throughout Utah ABC4 spent a few hours on the new app to get an idea of what it has to offer and, while the app has plenty of potential to rival text-based giant Twitter, it's still missing many quality-of-life features that helps make Twitter a little more appealing.We do want to note that all these observations are based on the first day of Threads' rollout. As the platform matures, this may all change, so take everything with a grain of salt.SIGNING UP IS EASYThe signup process for Threads c...

Police: San Jose man busted with 1,000 pounds of illegal fireworks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:59 GMT

(KRON) -- A San Jose man spent July 4 in jail for allegedly committing crimes involving fireworks, police said Thursday. Mark Espinoza, 49, is accused of distributing massive quantities of fireworks in the weeks leading up to the Fourth of July. According to the San Jose Police Department, its investigators seized over 1,000 pounds of illegal fireworks connected to Espinoza. Espinoza remains behind bars with no bail. His first court appearance in the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice is slated for Thursday afternoon. The SJPD's investigation began in early June, when members of the community voiced concerns regarding the illegal use and sale of fireworks in the Alviso neighborhood.Officers obtained search warrants for the suspect, his vehicles, and his storage units in Milpitas."Officers determined Espinoza was responsible for distributing large quantities of fireworks throughout the Bay Area," SJPD Sgt. Jorge Garibay wrote. Police seized boxes filled with 1,000 pounds of fireworks...

OceanGate suspends exploration and commercial ops following sub disaster

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:59 GMT

(KRON) -- OceanGate is suspending all exploration and commercial operations following a disastrous implosion aboard the company's Titan submersible in which five people died. A message posted to the commercial exploration company's website announced the suspension. Cruise ship visibly damaged after hitting SF pier while docking However, it did not offer further details regarding how long operations would be suspended.There were five people aboard the Titan when it lost contact with the surface last month. After a days-long search operation, it was determined that the vessel had imploded, killing all five onboard instantly.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Bay Area WWII veteran honored with bronze statue in Benicia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:59 GMT

(KRON) -- A 92-year-old Bay Area veteran will have a bronze statue in his likeness unveiled tomorrow in Benicia to honor his service during World War II. Harold Bray, a retired Benicia police officer, is the last surviving sailor of the USS Indianapolis with its last mission to help end the war.Bray enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he turned 17 years old in 1944, five years after World War II began. Bray would eventually join the USS Indianapolis crew in Mare Island, California. The ship had just returned back to the States for major repair following a Japanese Kamikaze attack at Okinawa in March 1945. During that attack, nine crew members were killed.  Asian Airlines Flight 214 remembered 10 years later Before the USS Indianapolis’ final top-secret mission of carrying an atomic bomb to Japan, Bray was fascinated by all walks of Navy life. “The months and days that followed were spent training, firefighting, standing watches, and learning to drink Navy coffee. While the sh...

FBI Hired Social Media Surveillance Firm That Labeled Black Lives Matter Organizers “Threat Actors”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:59 GMT

The FBI’s primary tool for monitoring social media threats is the same contractor that labeled peaceful Black Lives Matter protest leaders DeRay McKesson and Johnetta Elzie as “threat actors” requiring “continuous monitoring” in 2015.The contractor, ZeroFox, identified McKesson and Elzie as posing a “high severity” physical threat, despite including no evidence that McKesson or Elzie were suspected of criminal activity. “It’s been almost a decade since the referenced 2015 incident and in that time we have invested heavily in fine-tuning our collections, analysis and labeling of alerts,” Lexie Gunther, a spokesperson for ZeroFox, told The Intercept, “including the addition of a fully managed service that ensures human analysis of every alert that comes through the ZeroFox Platform to ensure we are only alerting customers to legitimate threats and are labeling those threats appropriately.”The FBI, which declined to comment, hired ZeroFox in 2021, a fact referenced in the new 106-page ...

Bayer Leverkusen signs Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka from Arsenal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:59 GMT

LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen has brought Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka back to the Bundesliga from English Premier League side Arsenal.The 30-year-old Xhaka signed a contract through June 2028, Leverkusen said on Thursday.“In Granit we were able to win an absolute top professional for ourselves,” Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said. “His footballing quality is known everywhere. But there are few players who can lead so well thanks to an outstanding mentality and personality.”Neither Leverkusen nor Arsenal divulged the transfer fee. Online sports website The Athletic reported it was 25 million euros ($27.1 million) “although sources close to Leverkusen are insisting the fee is lower.”Xhaka played 268 games for Arsenal since joining the London-based club in 2016 from Borussia Mönchengladbach. He helped the team to second place in the league last season with seven goals in 37 games. He scored 21 altogether for Arsenal.Xhaka also impressed in four years a...

Conservative groups lose bid to see Delaware university’s records involving Biden senate papers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:59 GMT

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A conservative media outlet and an activist group won’t be allowed access to records related to President Joe Biden’s gift of his Senate papers to the University of Delaware, after the state Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a judge’s ruling in favor of the university.The records have been the subject of multiple Freedom of Information Act requests, and the legal battle is playing out amid increased scrutiny of the handling of government documents by elected officials. The FBI searched the University of Delaware earlier this year for classified documents as part of its investigation into the potential mishandling of government records by Biden.In 2012, when Biden was vice president, he gave his alma more than 1,850 boxes of archived papers and 415 gigabytes of electronic records from his 36 years in the Senate. The donation is subject to a gift agreement that prohibits the records from being made publicly available until two years after Biden “retires from ...

Malas noticias para viajeros nerviosos: por qué las turbulencias empeorarán con los años

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:59 GMT

Un estudio reciente de investigadores de la Universidad de Reading en Inglaterra proporciona una idea de cómo ha cambiado la turbulencia en las últimas décadas.Los autores del artículo dicen que su investigación “representa la mejor evidencia hasta ahora de que [la turbulencia en el aire despejado] ha aumentado en las últimas cuatro décadas, en consonancia con los efectos esperados del cambio climático”.“A menos que hagamos algo drástico, habrá más turbulencias en las próximas décadas”, dice Paul Williams, profesor de ciencia atmosférica en la Universidad de Reading y coautor del estudio.Las turbulencias durante un vuelo pueden ser una experiencia incómoda para muchos, desde leves baches hasta instancias más graves de aviones dañados y pasajeros heridos.Con millones de personas que se van de vacaciones de verano, un estudio reciente de investigadores en Inglaterra proporciona una lectura desafiante pero importante.Según el análisis, que se publicó en Geophysi...