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Ex-San Francisco fire commissioner attacked homeless people with bear spray, attorneys say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:31 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A former San Francisco fire commissioner attacked homeless people with bear spray in the Marina neighborhood, according to attorneys who spoke in court Tuesday. The defense attorneys spoke on behalf of a 24-year-old unsheltered man, Garret Allen Doty, who is being held in jail without bail. Doty is charged with assaulting former fire commissioner Don Carmignani and accused of beating him with a metal pipe. The April 5 pipe beating was recorded on surveillance video footage obtained by KRON4. New surveillance video footage recently surfaced, however, showing that 53-year-old Carmignani provoked the incident when he allegedly attacked Doty with bear spray, Doty's defense attorneys said. Carmignani was hospitalized with major head injuries. Doty's defense team said a man matching Carmignani's description is suspected of targeting homeless people in at least eight separate incidents since November of 2021, including some incidents in which bear spray was used as...

Crash involving Amtrak train in Fairfield leaves one dead, several hospitalized

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:31 GMT

(KTXL) — A crash involving an Amtrak train and at least two vehicles in Fairfield Wednesday morning left one person dead and several others hospitalized, according to Fairfield firefighters and police.The crash happened near the intersection of E. Tabor Avenue and Railroad Avenue, in a residential area in the east end of the city. Fairfield Police said a truck was hit by a train and then struck "several other vehicles." One person inside the truck died. The Fairfield Fire Department said that at least two vehicles were left with major damage, and that "multiple patients" with moderate to major injuries were taken to the hospital.Police said several roadways in the area could be closed for several hours as investigators work on the scene. Service on Amtrak's Capitol Corridor route between the Bay Area and Sacramento was interrupted as emergency crews responded to the crash. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

Club Deluxe on Haight Street closing for good

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:31 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Venerated long-time Upper Haight bar and music venue Club Deluxe is closing for good, according to a social media post Monday from an employee. Deluxe, which has operated in the neighborhood since 1989, was slated to close last summer due to a lease dispute between the venue and leasing company, Veritas Investment, which owns the building. No one is driving this taxi. What possibly could go wrong? However, the club was saved following an all-day mediation between the club and the leasing company which was initiated by Supervisor Dean Preston, whose district the club is located in. Preston, who was once the co-owner of Cafe Du Nord on Market Street, reportedly brought both parties to City Hall for a six-and-a-half hour mediation, during which a deal was struck.But according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, the venue closed temporarily for renovations at the time and never reopened. "So long, Club Deluxe," wrote bar employee Joe Anderson in a socia...

Woman accused of assaulting TSA officers at Phoenix airport

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:31 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arkansas woman has been arrested for allegedly assaulting three Transportation Security Administration agents at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after a dispute over apple juice, authorities said Wednesday.TSA officials said Makiah Coleman, 19, allegedly attacked the officers as she was going through airport security just before 6 a.m. Tuesday.Court documents showed Coleman became upset because TSA officers took away her apple juice while she was going through security because large amounts of liquids aren’t allowed.Coleman reportedly was ranting as she tried to retrieve the juice from a disposal bin but was pushed away by a TSA agent.Documents said Coleman then scuffled with other officers — allegedly biting one agent, punching and elbowing another in the head, and grabbing the ponytail of a third.Phoenix police were called to the scene and took Coleman into custody. They said Coleman, of Little Rock, now faces several misdemeanor assault charges, one cou...

UK House of Commons backs controversial migration bill

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:31 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers on Wednesday approved a sweeping bill that will dramatically curb migrants’ ability to seek asylum in the U.K., despite critics’ allegations that it breaks international law.Members of the House of Commons voted by 289 to 230 to back the Illegal Migration Bill, which the Conservatives government says will will deter tens of thousands of people from trying to reach the country in small boats across the English Channel each year.It now goes to the House of Lords, where it faces strong opposition — though the unelected upper chamber of Parliament can only amend, not block, the legislation.The large Conservative majority in the Commons ensured its passage there, despite opposition condemnation and claims legislators had not had enough time to scrutinize the legislation.“This government has sought to railroad this deplorable, disgusting bill through the House of Commons,” said Stephen Flynn of the opposition Scottish National Party.The legislation bars asy...

Prosecutor wants 1 trial for 10 charged in patient’s death

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:31 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Seven sheriff’s deputies and three hospital workers should be put on trial together in the case of Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old man who died after he was pinned to the floor as he was being admitted to a Virginia psychiatric hospital, a prosecutor argued Wednesday. All 10 defendants are charged with second-degree murder in Otieno’s March 6 death. An autopsy determined Otieno died of asphyxia while he was in handcuffs and metal leg restraints and held to the floor for about 11 minutes, Dinwiddie Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill wrote in a motion seeking to try all the defendants together.Baskervill argues that the 10 defendants “acted together” and should be tried together.“It is not irrelevant that if one person here had acted differently, then Otieno may very well have been able to survive. Nor is it irrelevant that if one person had encouraged the others to act differently and urged others to stop applying lethal pressure to Otieno, Otie...

Disabled rights protests before Paris Olympics draw pledges

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:31 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Angry about decades of unmet promises, people with disabilities protested in France Wednesday by showing how difficult and frustrating it is for them to travel alone by train into Paris, delivering a stinging rebuke to government inertia before the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.President Emmanuel Macron, hosting a national conference on disabilities, conceded failures, noted slow progress, and promised concrete action for France’s 12 million people with disabilities, including ahead of the Games.“This world is not a parallel world,” Macron told the gathering. “I want this world to end being a world of silence, that people with disabilities be heard, be present and visible everywhere in our society.”He pledged 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion) to improve accessibility, targeting small establishments receiving the public — from restaurants to administrative locales and taxis, train stations and trains. Details, and a timeline, are to be worked out before the sum...

SEC spring wrap: 14 players to watch in 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:31 GMT

The Southeastern Conference is losing some of its top quarterbacks, but there’s plenty of star power returning, including at running back. Here’s a look at some of the league’s players to watch coming out of spring practice:ALABAMA: CB/PR Kool-Aid McKinstryis the latest star in Nick Saban’s secondary after playing key roles in his first two seasons. He’s a first-team All-SEC cornerback who also ranked second nationally with a 15.8-yard punt return average. McKinstry is projected as a likely first-round draft pick next year if he turns pro. He had a team-high 15 pass breakups last season.ARKANSAS: RB Raheim Sanders ran for 1,443 yards last season, fourth-most in program history. The 6-foot-2, 237-pounder also scored 10 touchdowns and caught 28 passes. Sanders’ 6.5 yards per carry was the Razorbacks’ best since Felix Jones set the school record in 2007.AUBURN: RB Jarquez Hunter has excelled as Tank Bigsby’s backup the past two seasons and now figures to be the Tigers’ lead runner. The...

Rep. Zooey Zephyr’s town feels divide from rest of Montana

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:31 GMT

MISSOULA, Montana (AP) — In the college town of Missoula, pride flags are as common a sight as the peaks of Montana’s Rattlesnake Mountains. Even a downtown crosswalk is rainbow-colored.Often described as a blue island in a vast red state, Missoula sent the first openly transgender legislator in Montana history to the state capital. Its voters, fully aware that they are vastly outnumbered by conservatives statewide, were still shocked at what happened next.Their new representative, Zooey Zephyr, was barred last week from speaking on the floor of the Legislature by the Republican majority, which accused her of violating decorum by telling them they had “blood on your hands” for approving a bill barring gender-affirming care for minors. Later Wednesday, Republican leaders plan to vote on censuring or expelling Zephyr from the body.Zephyr was elected with 80% of the vote in November in her heavily liberal district, which runs through the oddly-aligned section of central Missoula known ...

Is growing Las Vegas big enough for 3 major pro teams?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:13:31 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas will become the smallest TV market in Major League Baseball if the Oakland Athletics relocate, and it will by far be the tiniest to be home to three major professional sports franchises.But Las Vegas is unlike probably any other market, as the presence of the NFL’s Raiders and NHL’s Golden Knights have shown.The city doesn’t just rely on the local populace to pack its sports venues, but also draws heavily on the nearly 40 million tourists who visit annually. That doesn’t mean the A’s would be an automatic success at the turnstile like the Knights and Raiders, but the club and MLB see that visitor count as an enormous advantage.“It’s a smaller market in terms of households and so forth, but I think it is clearly the fastest-growing market and clearly on the ascension in terms of interest from fans all over the country,” said David Carter, sports business professor at the University of Southern California. “So (the A’s) wi...