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Bay Area News Group softball player of the year: St. Francis’ Kate Munnerlyn

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:20:55 GMT

MOUNTAIN VIEW – With one swing, Kate Munnerlyn put three runs on the board in a playoff game against Willow Glen.The homer gave the St. Francis junior all the runs she needed on the way to a 3-0 victory in the Central Coast Section Open Division semifinals.Munnerlyn pitched a three-hitter that day to beat one of the section’s best teams and send St. Francis into the final.“Getting those three runs on the board made me relax and just focus on the game,” Munnerlyn said.Performances like that were common for Munnerlyn, who hit .350 with six home runs this spring, and made her our choice for Bay Area News Group player of the year.Munnerlyn might have been relaxed in the pitching circle, but facing her was an unnerving experience, even for the best hitters in NorCal.The left-hander sat down one batter after another this spring, ending her postseason with two unearned runs allowed in 29 innings, all while she had little margin for error as the St. Francis offense stalled down the stretch....

Mahan: Why S.J. council should approve “Housing Now’ approach

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:20:55 GMT

California, with just over 12% of America’s population, is home to almost half of the nation’s unsheltered homeless – and the number is growing.It’s grim news. But San Jose is one of a few bright spots where the population of unsheltered homeless has started to shrink because we are finally breaking with the failed policies of the past.The most recent Point-in-Time (PIT) count shows San Jose shrank the number of people who call our streets home by 10.7%. Without San Jose, Santa Clara County’s unsheltered homelessness rate would have grown by 9.4% percent.While we must do better, this small improvement is largely because San Jose is building low-cost, quick-build and frequently modular units to house the homeless in safe and decent rooms, with the dignity of a door that locks and a private bathroom and without the up to five-year delay of building traditional homes.The status quo approach in Santa Clara County and beyond is spending up to $1 million a door on housing subsidized with ...

Korneeva beats Perez Alarcon to win French Open girls’ title

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:20:55 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Third-seeded Alina Korneeva beat No. 6 Lucciana Perez Alarcon 7-6 (4), 6-3 to win the French Open girls’ title on Saturday and follow up her success at the Australian Open earlier this year.The 15-year-old Russian player dropped only one set at the Grand Slam tournament as she became the first girl to win two major titles in a season since 2013, when Ana Konjuh and Belinda Bencic both won two majors.Korneeva is also the first girl to win the first two majors of the season since Magdalena Maleeva in 1990.Korneeva had three aces and broke Perez Alarcon’s serve six times. The 18-year-old Perez Alarcon double-faulted nine times and converted four of her nine break-point chances.Perez Alarcon was the first girl from Peru to reach a junior final. Peru’s Jaime Yzaga won the French Open boys’ title in 1985 and Luis Horna lost the final at Roland Garros in 1997.Later Saturday, Dino Prizmic of Croatia faced Juan Carlos Prado Angelo of Bolivia in the boys’ ...

49ers to complete Leeds takeover with NBA players Nance, McConnell as minority investors

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:20:55 GMT

LEEDS, England (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers ownership group has reached an agreement to take over English soccer club Leeds with NBA players Larry Nance Jr. and T.J. McConnell joining as minority investors.The NFL team’s investment arm — 49ers Enterprises — originally bought a 15 percent stake from Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani in 2018 and increased it to 44 percent in late 2021.Leeds didn’t specify the sale price for the remaining 56 percent but British media reported it to be 170 million pounds ($214 million).“Both parties continue to work through the details, and further updates will be provided soon,” Leeds said in a statement Friday. “All of our focus remains on a quick return to the Premier League.”Leeds will play in the second-tier Championship next season after being relegated from the Premier League.Nance and McConnell revealed on social media that they’ve joined the ownership group. No financial details were provided.Nance, a forward for the New Orle...

Iran police shoot and kill 9-year-old after his father stole a car, authorities say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:20:55 GMT

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A boy was shot and killed by police after his father stole a car in the southwestern Khuzestan province and drove off with him, Iranian authorities said.Ruhollah Bigdeli, chief of police in Shushtar County, said — via Iran’s official police website — that several officers tried to stop the “stolen vehicle by shooting at it.” The boy died on the spot. Police said they issued the man several warnings before they started shooting, adding that he had a criminal record, including car theft and drug smuggling.The Iranian Jamaran news website identified the boy as 9-year-old Morteza Delf Zaregani. They spoke to the father who accused the police of not issuing any warning before shooting.Morteza’s photo was shared on social media, with people expressing sorrow for his death.In November, 9-year-old Kian Pirfalak, was killed in a shooting that his mother blamed on security forces. Pirfalak was shot and killed while passing with his parents throug...

Boca Juniors vs. Lanús y Banfield vs. River Plate: a qué hora juegan y cómo verlos por TV e Internet

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:20:55 GMT

(CNN en Español) — Después de intensos partidos por la fase de grupos de la Copa Libertadores, Boca Juniors y River Plate se preparan para jugar la fecha 20 del torneo local. El equipo Xeneize, que recibirá a Lanús en la Bombonera, viene de lograr la clasificación a octavos de final en la Libertadores, pero reniega por las lesiones de cuatro jugadores en el enfrentamiento ante Colo-Colo de Chile. Luca Langoni, Miguel Merentiel, Luis Advíncula y Frank Fabra tuvieron que salir del terreno de juego por distintas molestias que llevarán varias semanas de recuperación y se suman a bajas previas en el equipo titular.Boca está en la décima posición de la tabla, con 27 puntos, a 14 puntos del líder. Si bien ha mejorado su desempeño en la competencia local, necesita recuperarse tras la derrota 0-1 ante Arsenal en la fecha anterior. El árbitro del encuentro será Fernando Echenique.Por su parte, River se enfrentará a Banfield. El equipo dirigido por Martín Demichelis también obtuvo buenos...

Doctors drawing attention to new LGBTQ heart health risk factors during Pride month

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:20:55 GMT

Almost a million people died from heart disease in 2020, according to the most recent American Heart Association data, but doctors say LGBTQ individuals could be at higher risk.“The study from the American Heart Association found that lesbian, bisexual, gay individuals and other LGBTQ people had higher risk factors for heart disease,” said Dr. Keith Egan, lead physician at Kaiser Permanente’s Pride Medical Center.The medical center launched Pride Medical on Capitol Hill back in 2022 to offer safe and welcoming care to sexual minorities.The study looked at actors like diet, activity level and tobacco use. But the reasons for increased heart health risk factors in LGBTQ+ populations could also be due to other, very real external factors that play just as big a role, Egan said.“It basically all boils down to systemic bias and discrimination that these populations face in various aspects of life,” he told WTOP.That type of bias could be present in housing c...

Arike Ogunbowale scores 35 points, lead Wings to 90-77 victory over Mercury, Griner

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:20:55 GMT

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Arike Ogunbowale scored 35 points, Satou Sabally added a double-double and Dallas pulled away in the second half to beat Phoenix 90-77 on Friday night.Ogunbowale sank 12 of 21 shots with five 3-pointers and five assists for the Wings (5-3), who improved to 4-0 at home this season. Sabally, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 draft, finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds for her fourth straight double-double and fifth of the season. Natasha Howard pitched in with 22 points and seven boards.Brittney Griner had 18 points to pace the Mercury (1-5), who fell to 0-3 on the road. Sug Sutton scored 16 with nine assists. Diana Taurasi added 12 points and five assists. Michaela Onyenwere and Griner combined to score 13 points and the Mercury led 21-17 after the first quarter. Ogunbowale scored seven in the opening period to keep Dallas close.Dallas grabbed its first lead, 40-38, since early in the first quarter on a basket by Howard with 1:39 remaining before halftime....

Your garden doesn’t like the wildfires, either. Here’s how to help plants handle smoke and ash

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:20:55 GMT

Smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada drove down air quality across swaths of the Eastern U.S. this week, a problem all too familiar in many Western states. In the New York City suburbs where I live, the air became smoggy and orange, categorized for a time by monitoring agencies as “hazardous.”During the worst of it, I wore a mask inside my house and kept my dog mostly indoors.But my plants stood in the garden with no choice but to breathe the toxic air through the tiny pores in their leaves.If your area is heavily affected by smoke or ash, the first priorities should, of course, be human, home and pet safety. But after securing those, you might find your plants need a little help, too.“When they’re exposed to smoke particles for a short amount of time, plants will bounce back, but a heavy amount of smoke is different than a passing event,” according to Oregon State University Extension community horticulturist Brooke Edmunds, who also is a plant pathologist. “It depend...

PSG president Al-Khelaifi distances himself from Man United bid

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:20:55 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said Saturday that he is not part of a potential Qatari-based bid to buy Manchester United.Speaking in Istanbul ahead of the Champions League final, Al-Khelaifi distanced himself from countryman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani’s proposed takeover of the storied Premier League club.“Paris Saint-Germain is my club, my heart and nothing to do with Man United,” he said of his Qatari-backed French club.On Friday it was reported Al-Khelaifi, who is also the chairman of the European Club Association, had played a “significant” role in talks over Sheikh Jassim’s attempt to buy out United owners, the Glazer family.Al-Khelaifi said potential investors frequently seek his advice and that he would offer his opinion about United or any other club. He said he was approached at Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix by an investor considering bids for two unnamed English teams.“I’m not working for anyone. I want the best for football,...