Updated 5:41 am PDT, Wednesday, July 18, 2018 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-4', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 4', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko, AP Image 1of/4 CaptionClose Image 1 of 4 FILE - In this June 8, 2018, file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during an awarding ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. If Donald Trump is serious about his public courtship of Vladimir Putin, he may want to take pointers from one of the Russian leader's longtime suitors: Chinese President Xi Jinping. In this political love triangle, Putin and Xi are tied by strategic need and a rare dose of personal affection, while Trump's effusive display in Helsinki … [Read more...] about In battle for Putin’s affections, cupid favors Xi over Trump
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Morning Report: Challenges Ahead for New Vacation Rental Plan
A vacation rental opponent holds up a sign during a City Council meeting. / Photo by Adriana Heldiz San Diego’s years-long vacation rental drama likely didn’t end with Monday’s City Council vote. The City Council’s vote to restrict vacation rentals to primary residences might have settled the long open question about whether vacation rentals are even allowed in San Diego, but it also opened up many new ones about how the measure will be enforced – or if it even can be. VOSD’s Lisa Halverstadt outlines the potential legal challenges brewing and Coastal Commission concerns that could haunt the new law. The city budget could also be affected by the City Council’s decision. She also provides a rundown of how enforcement is expected to work once the new rules go into effect. Federal Judges Let Frustration With ‘Zero Tolerance’ Slip Problems caused by President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration violations have reached a fever … [Read more...] about Morning Report: Challenges Ahead for New Vacation Rental Plan
UC Berkeley, tight on money, to spend $30 million on women’s sports facilities
Despite ongoing budget cuts and belt tightening at UC Berkeley, Chancellor Carol Christ just announced plans for a $30 million upgrade to the women’s beach volleyball and softball facilities. “I expect your reaction to this number may be similar to my own: one of concern and dismay,” Christ wrote Monday in a school-wide email. Christ acknowledged that the $30 million price tag for upgrading the women’s softball field at Strawberry Canyon and expanding the sand volleyball courts at the Clark Kerr Campus was “extraordinarily high,” but said the university had no choice under federal Title IX guidelines. “Simply put, we have a history of insufficient investment in the facilities that support some of our women’s sports programs,” Christ wrote. The only alternative, according to the chancellor, would be to cut the women’s softball and beach volleyball programs — “a step I will not take, for it stands in dramatic … [Read more...] about UC Berkeley, tight on money, to spend $30 million on women’s sports facilities
More bad news for monarch butterflies — study shows climate change’s devastating effect
Rising levels of carbon dioxide from car and factory exhaust — which scientists say is the primary cause of global warming — could contribute to the killing off of monarch butterflies by reducing the medicinal qualities of the plants they eat, a new study has found. The University of Michigan experiment, co-authored by a Stanford University scientist, found that higher carbon dioxide levels reduced a natural toxin in milkweed that feeding caterpillars utilize to fight off parasites. The 77 percent reduction in parasite tolerance found in the study is the first definitive example of how monarch survival, the plants they live and feed upon and the Earth’s changing climate are intricately linked. Leslie Decker, lead author of the study conducted for her doctoral dissertation at the University of Michigan, said climate-caused mutations like this could also affect the health of humans by degrading the many medicines that we derive from plants. “What we found is that … [Read more...] about More bad news for monarch butterflies — study shows climate change’s devastating effect
Women on the rise at SF City Hall — as both supervisors and department heads
It’s looking more and more like the Year of the Woman in San Francisco. The latest addition to the female power-holders at City Hall is Vallie Brown, who was just picked by her old boss, London Breed to fill out the new mayor’s term on the Board of Supervisors. The announcement came less than a week after Breed herself was sworn in to become the first female to occupy Room 200 since Dianne Feinstein, and the recent election of Supervisor Malia Cohen to succeed Breed as board president. Add in Naomi Kelly as city administrator, Sheriff Vicki Hennessy and Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu and you have quite the female administrative lineup. Women also now hold seven of the 11 board seats and half of the city’s 54 department head posts — including some of the most important departments: Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Health Department Director Barbara Garcia, Port Director Elaine Forbes, Human Resources Director Micki Callahan and Health Service System Systems Executive … [Read more...] about Women on the rise at SF City Hall — as both supervisors and department heads
CBD Fight: Claims, Counterclaims and a Woman Named Swindler
At the center of this drama is John Merritt, the man behind Full Spectrum Nutrition Inc., a Colorado Springs operation that's currently in limbo."The company has basically done no business since December," notes Merritt's attorney, Henry Baskerville. "We believe his former investors took all the product and have been selling it under their own companies."Merritt's answer to the original suit, which encompasses a counterclaim against the aforementioned investors, Josse Mazo and Maritza Riascos, is accessible below. But here's how Baskerville lays out his client's case."John started Full Spectrum Nutrition LLC with the idea of selling CBD, which is all the rage these days," Baskerville notes. "These Florida doctors" — Mazo and Riascos — "were wholesale purchasers from John, and at some point, they decided they were going to go into business with him. That's when he started a company called Full Spectrum Nutrition Inc., as opposed to the LLC, with the idea of getting a supply … [Read more...] about CBD Fight: Claims, Counterclaims and a Woman Named Swindler
Man Behind Gallagher Amendment Working on Alternative to Tax Plan He Helped Create
Denver residents may remember Gallagher as the longtime city auditor who turned the office into an independent civic watchdog and wasn't afraid to butt heads with city officials, like Mayor Michael Hancock and his appointed bureaucrats, over government inefficiency and ineffective programs.Gallagher isn't just being tapped by state lawmakers for his well of knowledge; he's also being called to answer for his legacy, a constitutional amendment called the Gallagher Amendment that is threatening to fold counties, fire and water districts and school districts across Colorado, particularly in rural parts of the state.While doing an interview at Common Grounds Coffeehouse before the primaries, I bumped into Gallagher, who confessed that he was sorry about his namesake tax amendment and the impact it has had on Coloradans. When I later met with the retired statesman to clarify what he meant — does he regret Gallagher? — his response was more of a mixed bag than an outright … [Read more...] about Man Behind Gallagher Amendment Working on Alternative to Tax Plan He Helped Create
Why Big Changes to Red Rocks Aren’t Happening…Yet
On July 24, Denver's Landmark Preservation Commission was scheduled to consider a proposal by Denver Arts & Venues to make significant changes to the planter boxes placed along the edges of the seating section at world-renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre. But days before the session, officials canceled the presentation in the face of opposition from the nonprofit citizens group Friends of Red Rocks and plenty of others.Steve Good, a Friends of Red Rocks founding member, isn't surprised the City of Denver pulled the plug on its Landmark Preservation Commission showcase. "This is the third time it's been put off," he notes. "And I think it's probably as a result of the pressure we've been putting on."Brian Kitts, director of marketing and communications for Arts & Venues, characterizes the situation differently."The Landmark submission is premature," Kitts notes via email. "We’ve been working on this for a couple of years — trying to find a balance between international … [Read more...] about Why Big Changes to Red Rocks Aren’t Happening…Yet
6-year-old girl dies after dog attack in Jacksonville home
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A 6-year-old girl attacked by a dog on Sunday morning has died, according to her father. Police said Jaelah Smith was attacked by a dog the family was pet sitting in their Arlington home. Related Stories Girl bitten by dog remains in critical condition; dog in quarantine 6-year-old girl attacked by dog in Arlington home Child hospitalized after dog bite In a message to News4Jax, Devin Holcomb wrote: Unfortunately my princess is no longer with us. I would like for you guys to keep my family in your prayers Police and firefighters were called to a house on Herrick Drive about 10:15 a.m. Sunday by a neighbor who heard screaming and saw the girl's mother carry the girl's unconscious body outside. “I just kept hearing somebody (yell), 'Help me, help me!'" Timothy Hightower told News4Jax. “She came out of the house and laid the baby down right there and told us to call the paramedics, and … [Read more...] about 6-year-old girl dies after dog attack in Jacksonville home
Teen Allegedly Raped by University of Miami Football Players Sues School
In 2014, two University of Miami Hurricanes football players — Alexander Figueroa and JaWand Blue, both 20 at the time — were arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old freshman student was intoxicated before the men admittedly assaulted her. The school immediately kicked Figueroa and Blue off the team and expelled both men, and then-University President Donna Shalala said she had spoken to the alleged victim and "reassured her of our full support."Instead, the alleged victim now claims in a lawsuit that the university failed her. According to court records the Daily Business Review first disclosed yesterday, the now-adult victim sued UM on June 22 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court for negligence. The woman says the university failed to provide adequate assistance or counseling after her alleged assailants were arrested. The men were reportedly allowed to enter pre-trial-diversion programs for first-time offenders, where they skipped prison time in exchange for … [Read more...] about Teen Allegedly Raped by University of Miami Football Players Sues School