Kurtenbach: The SF Giants’ offense has flatlined, and it has Gabe Kapler flummoxed

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:06:49 GMT

Kurtenbach: The SF Giants’ offense has flatlined, and it has Gabe Kapler flummoxed SAN FRANCISCO — Baseball has undergone a lot of changes this past year.But even in this era of new rules, scoring runs is still vital to winning games.And the San Francisco Giants can’t seem to do it anymore.If this team wants to make something of this promising yet perplexing campaign — if the next six weeks are going to be anything but an excruciating journey to hang onto a Wild Card spot, followed by a quick postseason exit — that has to change right now.This season sits on the brink, and it’s poised to be defined in the coming week, when the Giants are heading to Atlanta to play baseball’s best team, followed by a jaunt to Philadelphia to face their top rival in the Wild Card chase.After a 2-4 home stand against the Rangers and Rays where the Giants only scored more than three runs per game once, this team is hitting the road with no momentum. The road is all they’re hitting these days.Related ArticlesSan Francisco Giants | SF Giants haunted by...

Outside Lands headliner Foo Fighters set benefit show at Chase Center

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:06:49 GMT

Outside Lands headliner Foo Fighters set benefit show at Chase Center The Foo Fighters are set to play their second high-profile gig in San Francisco in a little over a month.Fresh off their headlining set at Outside Lands music festival over the weekend, Dave Grohl and company have announced plans to play the Dreamfest Concert at Chase Center on Sept. 13.The concert, held in conjunction with Salesforce’s biggie Dreamforce 2023 conference, is a benefit for UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals.Tickets start at $1,000 and include a cocktail reception.Visit the theconcertforkids.org for more information.The Foo Fighters have won 15 Grammy Awards and delivered such memorable albums as “The Colour and the Shape,” There Is Nothing Left to Lose,” “One By One” and “In Your Honor.”The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame act’s most recent album was “But Here We Are.”Related ArticlesMusic | This music star is so popular that he’s playing two nights at Levi’s Stadium Music | ...

Letters: Trump strategy | Keep safeguard | Deal harshly | Valuing democracy

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:06:49 GMT

Letters: Trump strategy | Keep safeguard | Deal harshly | Valuing democracy Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Is Trump strategy‘Too corrupt to convict’?Remember when Lehman Bros. collapsed in 2008? Who could forget? That sparked federal bailouts to banks and insurance companies that were deemed “Too Big To Fail.”It looks like Donald Trump is making a similar page in history, by earning 91 criminal charges in four indictments. Legal pundits are wondering how so many trials can even be scheduled. And, how would an ex-president serve prison time if convicted?Trump’s strategy is becoming “Too Corrupt To Be Convicted.”Bruce JoffePiedmontBill would removesafeguard for abusedAssemblymembers Tina McKinnor and Buffy Wicks and state Sen. Scott Wiener have written AB 1028, a bill that is halfway through California’s legislative process and removes mandatory reporting among health care professionals if they find signs of abuse on a patient.This bill, like other articles and movement...

Letters: Psychiatric beds | Rethink housing | Gun control | Western history | Trump acolytes

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:06:49 GMT

Letters: Psychiatric beds | Rethink housing | Gun control | Western history | Trump acolytes Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.County needs more, notfewer, psychiatric bedsRe: “County must secure needed inpatient psychiatric beds” (Page A6, Aug. 11).Please do not remove any mental health beds. The need is so great.Less mental health support is only making our communities less safe and families’ quality of life diminish. Our loved ones’ mental health deserves as much support as any other illness.My heart breaks for all who are unable to get the necessary support.Linda LissnerSan JoseWe must rethinkhousing across agesRe: “Texas? Florida? Nope. Bay Area refugees are fleeing to Seattle” (Page A1, Aug. 13).The Bay Area and California housing crisis is an American issue. We must reconfigure housing across the ages and stages of life.Last year I helped relocate my parents who are in their mid-80s to Stoneridge Creek, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Pleasanton. They were “aging in pla...

Bears are climbing Half Dome in Yosemite National Park

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:06:49 GMT

Bears are climbing Half Dome in Yosemite National Park YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Park Rangers recently discovered evidence of a black bear's presence on the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite.On Tuesday, Yosemite National Park announced that black bears have been present on the famous summit. They warn bears can easily tackle the 46-degree angle "no cables needed" - and warn hikers to be cautious since black bears are excellent climbers. This endangered species was sought in Tulare County Rangers advise hikers in Yosemite National Park to keep all smelly objects, from food to sunscreen, locked in a bear locker or bear canister. If someone needs to keep food in the car, rangers say to keep it out of sight, with the car windows rolled up and the doors locked.Whether at camp or on the trail, they advise always to keep backpacks and scented items within arm's reach since bears and other animals like the Half Dome ground squirrels will approach unattended bags quickly and will try to take their contents. "For the safety of ...

Providing $100 per day to SF jurors increased economic, racial diversity: report

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:06:49 GMT

Providing $100 per day to SF jurors increased economic, racial diversity: report (BCN) -- A San Francisco program that increases pay from $15 to $100 per day to jurors with low to moderate incomes has proven to increase the economic and racial diversity of jury pools in the city, a new report found. The Be The Jury pilot program, launched by the San Francisco Financial Justice Project in the city's Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector, began in March 2022 with the goal of expanding access to civic duty by removing financial barriers. 4-year-old girl killed, parents injured in crash near Oracle Park, driver arrested A majority of participants in the program -- 84% -- reported that they would not have been able to serve on their respective juries without the $100 per day stipend, according to the report released at the one-year mark of the program. Participants had a median household income of $38,000, which is well below San Francisco's median of $121,826, indicating that the program successfully removed financial hurdles to serve. While jury duty i...

Transgender care ban for minors takes effect in North Carolina after lawmakers override governor’s veto

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:06:49 GMT

Transgender care ban for minors takes effect in North Carolina after lawmakers override governor’s veto RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Transgender care ban for minors takes effect in North Carolina after lawmakers override governor’s veto.Source

Walker homers twice, hitting 2-run shot in 8th in Diamondbacks’ 9-7 victory over Rockies

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:06:49 GMT

Walker homers twice, hitting 2-run shot in 8th in Diamondbacks’ 9-7 victory over Rockies DENVER (AP) — Christian Walker hit a pair of two-run homers, the second in the eighth inning lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks past the Colorado Rockies in a 9-7 victory Wednesday.The Diamondbacks moved back over .500 at 61-60, winning two straight to capture their second straight series after a stretch in which they lost 10 of 12 games to fall 3 1/2 games out of an NL wild-card berth. They have 31 come-from-behind victories.Tommy Pham singled off Tyler Kinley (0-1) to open the eighth inning and Walker followed with a 425-foot homer to right-center for an 8-7 lead. Walker, who has 28 homers, also homered in the first two games of the series. He has 22 career homers against Colorado, 13 at Coors Field.Walker had three hits and four RBIs, Nick Ahmed had a three-run triple and Corbin Carroll had two hits and his 37th stolen base after replacing Lourdes Gurriel in the fifth inning. Gurriel left because of a strained left hip.Kyle Nelson (7-3) pitched the seventh for the victory. He was t...

4 clerks facing fines after ‘underage vaping operation’ at more than two dozen stores in Virginia

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:06:49 GMT

4 clerks facing fines after ‘underage vaping operation’ at more than two dozen stores in Virginia Four store clerks in Leesburg, Virginia, are facing fines after police say they were caught selling tobacco vaping products to underage costumers.The Leesburg Police Department conducted an underage vaping operation at 29 tobacco retail establishments and charged clerks at four of those businesses, according to a news release.The clerks worked at the Sheetz on California Drive; Jock’s Exxon on West Market; Tobacco King and Vape on East Market Street; and Leesburg Tobacco & Vape on East Market Street.The clerks, who range in age from 18 to 57 years old, were each issued a summons charging them with violating the Virginia Code, which was amended in July 2019 to outlaw the sale of “tobacco products, nicotine vapor products, and alternative nicotine products” to anyone under 21 years of age.The violations are punishable with a fine.“Operations like these send a clear message to retail establishments in town, that they are responsible for training their staff ...

Falcons guard Matt Hennessy out for season with apparent knee injury

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:06:49 GMT

Falcons guard Matt Hennessy out for season with apparent knee injury FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Guard Matt Hennessy is done for the season after the Atlanta Falcons placed him on injured reserve Wednesday with an apparent knee issue.Hennessy, who has played 41 games with 22 starts over the past three seasons with the Falcons, was expected to battle for the No. 1 spot at left guard during the preseason.His injury would seemingly hand the starting job to rookie Matthew Bergeron, a second-round pick from Syracuse.Hennessy went down July 28 — the third day of training camp — while blocking on a running play. He walked off the field with a trainer but hasn’t practiced since.Coach Arthur Smith has declined to specify the nature of the injury, other than to say it was related to something Hennessy dealt with a year ago. The lineman went on the injured list last November with a left kneecap ailment.Hennessy also served as Atlanta’s backup center, a position he had started at before losing the job to Drew Dalman a season ago. That prompted a move ...