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Company behind mysterious Solano County land acquisitions launches website after criticism from lawmakers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:49 GMT

(BCN) -- A group of Silicon Valley investors behind a land acquisition company called Flannery Associates LLC launched a website Thursday previewing plans for building a new city in Solano County, days after California lawmakers at the state and federal level urged more transparency from the company. The California state Senate's agriculture committee held a hearing Tuesday that covered threats to California's agriculture industry and heard testimony on the land acquisitions, which have included 400 parcels bought up over the last five years by a company that had no identifiable officers or investors. San Jose women charged after infested langsat fruit seized Flannery Associates has bought 55,000 acres of land since 2018, much of it owned by family farmers, but investors in the company remained hidden because it was registered in Delaware, which does not require a corporation's officers to be public. "Just last week, Aug. 22, Flannery Associates finally revealed, afte...

Stolen truck crashes into SUV in Sonoma County hit-and-run, injures 74-year-old woman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:49 GMT

(KRON) -- A 74-year-old woman was injured after a hit-and-run Wednesday morning in Sonoma County, CHP Santa Rosa said on Facebook. The driver of a stolen septic truck lost control and crashed head-on into a Mercedes-Benz SUV near Calistoga Road and Alpine Road around 11:38 a.m. The septic truck rolled onto the roadway before crashing into the SUV. The 74-year-old female driver suffered major injuries, CHP said. ‘Sick and tired’: Oakland restaurant acquires parking lot, hires security to prevent car break-ins The male driver of the stolen truck ran away from the scene before authorities arrived. Photos of the crash were posted by CHP (below).(CHP Santa Rosa)(CHP Santa Rosa)As of Thursday evening, CHP has not reported that the suspect driver was located. Anyone with information about this crash or the suspect who left the scene is asked to call 707-588-1400.

Disney Lists $330,000 Crisis PR Job After CEO Insults Striking Actors and Writers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:49 GMT

Amid the Hollywood strike, Disney is looking to hire a senior executive to “lead crisis communications response efforts,” as well as other senior communications experts to “retain” and “motivate” employees, according to company job postings reviewed by The Intercept. One posting offers up to $337,920 for a vice president of public affairs to lead a “communications team to assist senior executives in preparing for media events” and “interviews.” The posting follows a disastrous July 13 interview by CNBC of Disney chief executive Bob Iger, in which he called the actors and writers strikes “very disturbing,” their demands “not realistic,” and coming at “the worst time in the world.”The interview was widely panned as a catastrophe, with the Hollywood Reporter calling it “infamous” in an article titled “Unpacking Bob Iger’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good PR Week.” The same week, one day prior to the interview, Disney announced that his contract was being extended to 2026, raising his t...

Wine growers in Maryland eligible for $1 million in grants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:49 GMT

The Maryland Department of Commerce has $1 million in grants available for new and existing wineries in the state, and is now taking applications for the grants.The funds are made available through the state’s Winery and Vineyard Economic Development Grant Program, and administered by the Commerce Department’s Office of Tourism.Applicants don’t need to be large vineyards. Any winery consisting of at least one acre used solely to grow grapes qualifies.Eligible expenses that grants will cover are wide ranging, including barrels and bins, canopy management machines, fermenters, fruit harvesters, irrigation equipment, presses, seeders and tanks. The full list of eligible expenses is online.Grants can’t be used for some expenses, including labor, maintenance or utilities.The application deadline is Sept. 15, with grants approved by Dec. 15.There are more than 80 wineries in Maryland now, with four distinct wine growing regions, including the Eastern Shore, Souther...

Correction: Hawaii-Wildfires-Philanthropy story

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:49 GMT

In a story published August 31, 2023, about the People’s Fund of Maui, The Associated Press incorrectly identified the nonprofit managing the fund. It is the Entertainment Industry Foundation, not the Entertainment Industry Fund.Source

A federal judge strikes down a Texas law requiring age verification to view pornographic websites

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:49 GMT

A federal judge has struck down a Texas law requiring age verification and health warnings to view pornographic websites and blocked the state attorney general’s office from enforcing it.In a ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Ezra agreed with claims that House Bill 1181, which was signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in June, violates free speech rights and is overbroad and vague.The state attorney general’s office, which is defending the law, immediately filed notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans.The lawsuit was filed Aug. 4 by the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry and a person identified as Jane Doe and described as an adult entertainer on various adult sites, including Pornhub.Judge Ezra also said the law, which was to take effect Friday, raises privacy concerns because a permissible age verification is using a traceable government-issued identification and the government...

Amrabat leaving Fiorentina could be biggest deal on quiet transfer deadline day in Italy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:49 GMT

MILAN (AP) — With the top Serie A teams having completed most of their transfer business, the biggest move of Friday’s deadline day in Italy could be a player leaving the country.Manchester United seems like the likely destination for Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat. The English club is reportedly set to pay 10 million euros ($11 million) for an initial loan deal with an option to buy the Morocco international for a further 20 million euros ($22 million).Amrabat was largely off the radar outside Italy before an outstanding World Cup. He was one of the players of the tournament, the shield for a Moroccan defense that didn’t concede a goal by an opposition player until the semifinals.The 27-year-old Amrabat hasn’t featured in either of Fiorentina’s Serie A matches this season as a transfer away from the team looked ever more likely.The Milan teams could wrap up a busy transfer window with deadline day signings.Davy Klaassen flew into the Italian city for a medical at Inter ...

Germany, Slovenia, US and Lithuania make World Cup quarterfinals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:49 GMT

Luka Doncic and Slovenia are headed to the World Cup quarterfinals. So are the U.S., Germany and Lithuania.Out of the mix: Olympic bronze medalist Australia.Half of the World Cup quarterfinals field is now set, after those four nations won their opening second-round games Friday to secure spots in the knockout round.The U.S. rallied to hold off Montenegro 85-73 in Group J, and Lithuania topped Greece 92-67 in the late game in that group. The Americans and Lithuania are both 4-0 now; Greece and Montenegro fell to 2-2 and cannot catch the leaders with one game remaining for those teams in Round 2.The top two teams in each of four, four-team, second-round groups make the quarterfinals.Slovenia topped Australia 91-80 and Germany ran past Georgia 100-73 in Group K second-round games Friday. Those outcomes ensured that Slovenia and Germany will finish first and second in that group, in some order, and both are off to the quarterfinals.Defending champion Spain and Serbia, two of the favori...

Biden approves Medal of Honor for Army helicopter pilot who rescued soldiers in a Vietnam firefight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — As an Army first lieutenant and Cobra helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, Larry Taylor flew hundreds of missions and saved countless lives. But no rescue flight was as daring, or as meaningful to Taylor, as the one for which he will receive the Medal of Honor from President Joe Biden. Biden will recognize Taylor at a ceremony next week, the White House announced Friday. On the night of June 18, 1968, Taylor took off in his attack helicopter to rescue four men on a long-range reconnaissance team that had become surrounded and was in danger of being overrun by enemy troops. He had to figure out a way to get them out, otherwise “they wouldn’t make it.”David Hill, one of the men Taylor saved that night, said Taylor’s actions were what “we now call thinking outside the box.”Hill and the three others were on a night mission to track the movement of enemy troops in a village near the Saigon River when they were found by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troo...

Danes orders Russia to reduce embassy staff to the same number that Denmark has in Moscow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:49 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark on Friday informed Russia’s ambassador in Copenhagen that it must reduce its embassy staff to the same number that Denmark has in Moscow because talks to increase numbers have foundered over Russian attempts to sneak intelligence officers into Denmark. Copenhagen and Moscow “have been in long-term negotiation” regarding visas for employees at Denmark’s Embassy in Moscow, the Danish Foreign ministry said, but these talks “have not led to results due to repeated Russian attempts to include visa requests for Russian intelligence officers as part of those negotiations.”The brief Danish statement said that the Russian Embassy must be reduced to five diplomats and 20 administrative and technical staff. It gave Russia until Sept. 29 to comply. The announcement came on the same day as a Danish newspaper reported that a person it identified as a member of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU had been posted as diplomat in Copenhagen. Source