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Laurie Houts killing: Court delays murder dismissal pending appellate decision

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

SAN JOSE — The dismissal of a murder charge against a man who beat two trials in the 1990s over the strangling of Laurie Houts in Mountain View is on hold, a judge ruled Tuesday.Laurie Houts after a softball game the night before Houts died. (Photo: special to the Bay Area News Group) Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Shella Deen  also preserved home detention and $350,000 bail for John Kevin Woodward to ensure he cannot leave the country — he resided in the Netherlands when he was arrested last year — in case the Sixth District Court of Appeal overturns her dismissal ruling and sends the case to trial.When Deen issued her Aug. 22 order dismissing a murder charge for Woodward, she allowed whatever side she ruled against to petition the appellate court for a review within five days.The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed a writ with the appellate court Monday, a day before the deadline, and Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Gadeberg...

Australia: Neurosurgeon removes live worm from woman’s brain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

By Rod McGuirk | Associated PressCANBERRA, Australia — A neurosurgeon investigating a woman’s mystery symptoms in an Australian hospital says she plucked a wriggling worm from the patient’s brain.Surgeon Hari Priya Bandi was performing a biopsy through a hole in the 64-year-old patient’s skull at Canberra Hospital last year when she used forceps to pull out the parasite, which measured 8 centimeters, or 3 inches.“I just thought: ‘What is that? It doesn’t make any sense. But it’s alive and moving,'” Bandi was quoted Tuesday in The Canberra Times newspaper.“It continued to move with vigor. We all felt a bit sick,” Bandi added of her operating team.The creature was the larva of an Australian native roundworm not previously known to be a human parasite, named Ophidascaris robertsi. The worms are commonly found in carpet pythons.Bandi and Canberra infectious diseases physician Sanjaya Senanayake are authors of an article about t...

Pedestrian hospitalized after being hit by car coming out of Walnut Creek parking garage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

WALNUT CREEK — A pedestrian was hospitalized Monday after being hit by a car that was coming out of a parking garage, officials said.The collision happened on S. Main Street and Botelho Drive and caused police to shut down S. Main Street for about an hour.The pedestrian went by ambulance to John Muir Medical Center with injuries that officials said were not life-threatening.According to city spokesperson Betsy Burkhart, police spoke to the driver who showed no signs of impairment. Police did not arrest anyone.Burkhart said the driver was turning out of the Macy’s parking garage at Broadway Plaza and hit the person who was in the crosswalk.Police re-opened the S. Main Street at about 3 p.m.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | 3 Marines who died in Australian Osprey crash identified, 3 Camp Pendleton Marines remain hospitalized Crashes and Disasters | 3 U.S. Marines killed, others injured in aircraft crash in Australia Crashes and Disaste...

Three-bedroom home sells for $2.5 million in Palo Alto

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

A 1,105-square-foot house built in 1952 has changed hands. The property located in the 600 block of Ashton Avenue in Palo Alto was sold on Aug. 11, 2023. The $2,500,000 purchase price works out to $2,262 per square foot. The layout of this single-story home consists of three bedrooms and one bath. Inside, there is a fireplace. Additionally, the house features a single carport.Additional houses that have recently been purchased close by include:In January 2023, a 1,679-square-foot home on Saint Michael Drive in Palo Alto sold for $1,585,000, a price per square foot of $944. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On Cowper Street, Palo Alto, in May 2023, a 925-square-foot home was sold for $2,140,000, a price per square foot of $2,314. The home has 3 bedrooms 1 bathroom.A 1,754-square-foot home on the 3300 block of Middlefield Road in Palo Alto sold in October 2022, for $3,750,000, a price per square foot of $2,138. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Want Amazon’s free shipping? You may need to buy more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

Lauren Rosenblatt | The Seattle Times (TNS)Amazon shoppers might have to start putting more items in their cart to qualify for free shipping.The Seattle-based company is testing a new minimum requirement, $35 instead of $25, to waive the shipping fee, according to Amazon spokesperson Kristina Pressentin.Amazon is testing the new free-shipping threshold in some randomly generated regions. Everyone in the same region will have the same price tag requirement.The price increase does not apply to Prime members, who pay $139 annually for the subscription that guarantees free shipping on 300 million items, Pressentin said.This isn’t the first time Amazon has tried to raise the bar for free shipping. It upped the price tag from $25 to $35 in 2013, then to $49 in 2016. That didn’t last long — Amazon dropped the price back to $35 in February 2017 and down to $25 a few months later.“We continually evaluate our offerings and make adjustments based on those assessments,” Pressentin said Monday.T...

Major police activity at Chabot Elementary School in Oakland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

(KRON) -- Chabot Elementary School in Oakland is on lockdown Tuesday morning, KRON4 has confirmed. The school is cordoned off with yellow police tape and officers from several agencies and K-9 officers are deployed at the school. Burglars targeting boats on Oakland estuary Bomb threats have been called in for the school and two other locations, sources have confirmed to KRON4.There has been a social media backlash against the school trending Tuesday morning in reaction to a "Playdate Social for Black, Brown and API families." A major conservative account tweeted about the event, describing it as a "race segregated 'playdate social' for all students except white kids."KRON4 reached out to the group behind the playdate event, the Chabot Equity & Inclusion Committee and received a statement that read in part:"Not only have we been continuously getting hate mails, the school has been receiving calls nonstop and Trump supporters and other unhinged racists have been spreading the sc...

Traffic collision on Richmond-San Rafael Bridge causes delays

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

(KRON) -- A traffic collision on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is causing delays Tuesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.Just after 10:30 a.m., CHP reported a non-injury collision occurred on the eastbound lanes of the bridge. The number three lane is currently blocked. Major police activity at Chabot Elementary School in Oakland Drivers are advised to expect delays as crews work to clear the lane. The cause of the crash is unknown at this time.This is developing news. Stick with us for updates.

Suspect who hit victim with pipe arrested for hate crime in Redwood City

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

(KRON) -- A man who police say hit a man in the neck with an aluminum pipe Monday after hurling homophobic slurs at him has been arrested and charged with hate crimes, according to the Redwood City Police Department. The incident occurred on Monday at around 1:38 p.m. in the area of 4th Avenue and Spring Street. Burglars targeting boats on Oakland estuary A group of people were loitering and drinking at the location. The suspect, 43-year-old Cipriano Munoz of Redwood City, allegedly made homophobic slurs to the victim before punching him in the face multiple times and hitting him with the pipe. The pipe, police said, was a piece of a crutch belonging to another subject.The victim suffered minor injuries to the face and neck but declined medical attention.Cipriano was booked into the San Mateo County Jail for assault with a deadly weapon and for a felony hate crime statute.

SF store owner in ICU after robbery, assault with bat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

(KRON) -- A store owner in San Francisco's Richmond District is recovering after being assaulted with a baseball bat during a robbery Thursday night. Around 9:31 p.m., officers responded to the report of a robbery and aggravated assault in the 3900 block of Balboa Street. An unconscious 60-year-old man, Yohannes Tewolde, also referred to as John, was found laying on the ground, according to police.(Photo: GoFundMe)Tewolde was taken to a local hospital with significant injuries. An investigation into this incident and eyewitness accounts revealed an unknown suspect attempted to steal merchandise from the business. Tewolde confronted the suspect with a bat, police said. Major police activity at Chabot Elementary School in Oakland The suspect began assaulting Tewolde and was able to gain control of the bat with which he began hitting Tewolde. Before fleeing the scene, in an unknown sedan, the suspect threw the bat at another victim.No arrests have been made. John remains in the Inte...

The FBI Has Collected DNA Profiles for 21 Million People

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

The FBI has amassed 21.7 million DNA profiles — equivalent to about 7 percent of the U.S. population — according to Bureau data reviewed by The Intercept.The FBI aims to nearly double its current $56.7 million budget for dealing with its DNA catalog with an additional $53.1 million, according to its budget request for fiscal year 2024. “The requested resources will allow the FBI to process the rapidly increasing number of DNA samples collected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” the appeal for an increase says.“When we’re talking about rapid expansion like this, it’s getting us ever closer to a universal DNA database.”In an April 2023 statement submitted to Congress to explain the budget request, FBI Director Christopher Wray cited several factors that had “significantly expanded the DNA processing requirements of the FBI.” He said the FBI collected around 90,000 samples a month — “over 10 times the historical sample volume” — and expected that number to swell to about 120...