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MLB breakdown: Mets, Phils, Padres to battle for NL pennant

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:54:36 GMT

It’s always thrilling to see a brand-new season of Major League Baseball get underway.To embark upon a 162-game slate is a grand adventure not unlike Dorothy heading down the Yellow Brick Road, with the Emerald City gleaming in the distance.It’s also a long journey full of obstacles and chaos, and 2023 is already guaranteed to provide drama and intrigue. There are the new rules (pitch clock, and larger bases, and shift restrictions, oh my!), a stricter focus on upholding the “sticky stuff” ban, and a balanced schedule that has teams play at least one series against each of the other 29 clubs.Here are some of the powerhouses, question marks, and potential underdog teams outside the American League East this year:The powerhousesAfter years of griping about the Wilpon’s miserliness, the New York Mets now have Steve Cohen, the richest owner in baseball. And unlike many of his fellow billionaires in the owners’ suites, he has no problem spending like it. Bet...

Klamath dam removals, habitat restoration, begins

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:54:36 GMT

Crews have begun working on removing four dams on the Klamath River which tribes and other groups have lobbied to take down for decades.The early removal work involves upgrading bridges and constructing roads to allow greater access to the remote dams, which are expected to be fully down by the end of 2024. The dam removal on the 38-mile stretch of the river comes after an agreement between the last dam owner PacifiCorp, California, Oregon, the Yurok Tribe, the Karuk Tribe and a multitude of environmental organizations, with the goal of restoring salmon populations.The Klamath River Renewal Corporation held a news conference on Thursday giving an update on their work in dismantling the dams and restoring habitats.“We have broken ground on the world’s biggest salmon restoration project to date, and as most of you all know, this can’t come a moment too soon,” Craig Tucker, the Natural Resources Policy Advocate for the Karuk Tribe, said at the news conference. “Recent news stories have...

High school golfer hospitalized after he’s struck by fallen tree branch at Santa Cruz County club

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:54:36 GMT

APTOS — An Aptos High junior-varsity golfer was hospitalized after he was struck by a large, fallen Monterey Cypress branch during a practice round at Seascape Golf Club on Thursday afternoon.The accident occurred to the right of the fairway, near the cart path, halfway between the tee box and green on the 196-yard, par-3 16th hole.“It was an unfortunate, freak occurrence,” said Gary Nelson, the general manager of the course.The view from the white tees on the 16th hole at Seascape Golf Club in Aptos. Two trees have fallen on the hole following recent storms. (Jim Seimas – Santa Cruz Sentinel)A large branch split from a Monterey cypress, left, on the right side of the16th fairway at Seascape Golf Club and struck a high school golfer Thursday afternoon. The golfer was hospitalized. (Jim Seimas – Santa Cruz Sentinel)Recent storms have led to several fallen trees throughout the county, including this one, which fell across the cart path on the left side of the 18th fairway ...

‘It’s abusive.’: Players detail toxic culture within Cal Poly Humboldt basketball

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:54:36 GMT

Over the course of the past six months, there have been two different realities of the Cal Poly Humboldt men’s basketball team.The external reality, in full public view, was the picture of a team with immense talent recruited by an upstart head coach trying to revitalize a struggling basketball program. That team in many ways failed to live up to their potential on the court, finishing the year 13-16 after being eliminated in the first round of the CCAA conference tournament. It presented incremental progress, a step in the right direction. Even as the athletic director departed, it appeared the program would stay the course under its current construction.In interviews with the Times-Standard, the players of the Humboldt men’s basketball team have presented their picture of the internal reality. In interviews with seven current members of the team (five of which are quoted in this article), they detailed a culture that is a shocking contrast to the facade that existed on the surface...

California man, former military member pleads guilty to unlawfully exporting war tools to Russia

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:54:36 GMT

A former Corona resident pleaded guilty Friday, March 24 to conspiring to unlawfully export defense articles to Russia without a license, violating the Arms Export Control Act.Former Corona resident Igor Panchernikov, 41, who served in the United States Air Force Reserves, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act.Panchernikov, who has dual Israeli and Ukranian citizenship and is a lawful resident of the United States, has been in federal custody since 2022 after he was extradited to the United States from Israel.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Letters: Natural gas ban | Book miscue | Labor for shelter | Iraq tragedy | Aiding the living Crime and Public Safety | Letters: Mischaracterizing homelessness | Repair roads | PG&E failing | Even keel | Protect oceans | Repeating mistakes Crime and Public Safety | California Army Master Sgt. who died in parachute accident to be welcomed home ...

10 most expensive Disneyland items in auction of nearly 900 theme park collectibles

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:54:36 GMT

An upcoming auction featuring hundreds of Disneyland items expected to fetch as much as $50,000 apiece will give Disneyana collectors a chance to add a bit of the Anaheim theme park’s history to their personal memorabilia collections.Related ArticlesEntertainment | Disneyland plans Star Wars Month in May with return of Hyperspace Mountain Entertainment | First Disneyland appearance for rare Disney character older than Mickey Mouse Entertainment | Disneyland cleans every skull, mummy and snake in Indiana Jones Adventure refurbishment Entertainment | Rolly Crump dies at 93; theme park designer had huge hand in shaping Disneyland Entertainment | ‘Mandalorian’ creator Jon Favreau pitches Star Wars ride for Disneyland Heritage Auctions will hold the Art of Disneyland Auction on Saturday, March 25 and Sunday, March 26. Select auction items can be previewed at the Beverly Hills auction house daily from 10 a.m. ...

Wild dog attacks kill at least 300 livestock, stir fear in rural Southern California

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:54:36 GMT

Residents of rural Anza say they’re being terrorized by wild dogs that have mauled and killed about 300 sheep and goats in the past three months, chased a young boy and left 31 animals dead in a raid this week.Residents said the attacks have been going on many months.Tucked between Temecula and Hemet, Anza is an unincorporated town of large ranches and dirt roads in Riverside County. The attacks have turned people’s property into horror scenes.Alex Avalos, 27, was at work Tuesday evening, March 21, when his neighbor called him after a group of wild dogs attacked his family’s livestock.Alex Avalos holds up an injured lamb Friday, March 24, 2023, at a ranch in Anza. He said the herd was terrorized by wild dogs that have been killing livestock in the rural area. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)Alex Avalos shows an injured lamb Friday, March 24, 2023. Avalos said he lost 31 animals in a Tuesday, March 21, 2023, attack by wild dogs. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)...

Monterey County agriculture: Flooding is watering down the bottomline

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:54:36 GMT

SALINAS – While it will be a few weeks at least before the local agriculture industry has a firm grasp of the mess left by torrential rain and repeated flooding this year, the meter is running.According to unofficial estimates,  some 20,000 acres of local farmland flooded in recent storms, threatening a costly road to recovery. Not catastrophic, in the grand scheme of Monterey County’s 366,000 acres of productive farmland, but far from insignificant either, with impacts already felt industry-wide and more surely on the way as slowly receding flood waters reveal just how much havoc winter weather wreaked over the past three months.Waiting to see how damages tally up, some county officials and local agricultural leaders have come to their own wary but educated guess on the final economic blow, once fields are dry and consequences are apparent.Appraisals start in the 10-digit range.Floodwaters from the Salinas River overtop River Road and agricultural fields at Las Palmas. (Danny Vigil...

Family of drowned mother at Moss Landing seeks funeral assistance

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:54:36 GMT

MOSS LANDING — As the search continued for a missing 7-year-old boy whose mother was found drowned near harbor waters Wednesday night, family members were seeking support from the community.Florencia Ramirez-Urbano, 27, of Salinas, was a farmworker who went to the beach with her two sons Wednesday, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. First responders began converging on the area around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, after Ramirez’s 3-year-old son sought help when his family went missing. Ramirez was founded floating in a Moss Landing lagoon soon after.“We are absolutely devastated by the passing of my 27-year-old daughter Florencia Ramirez, who was found dead trying to rescue her 7-year-old son Edgar Espinoza in the waters off Moss Landing on March 22, 2023,” Luciana Urbano Vargas wrote in a funeral-expense fundraiser posted to a GoFundMe page Thursday.The fundraiser had drawn in nearly $2,000 of its $80,000 goal, as of Friday afternoon. Information on the fundraiser is availab...

Marin County residents trapped after tree smashes home

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:54:36 GMT

A massive oak tree fell and crushed a house in San Anselmo early Friday morning.The oak tree –– which was estimated to be between 100 and 200 years old –– toppled into the two-story home on Yolanda Drive at about 5:23 a.m., said Jake Peterson, a Ross Valley Fire Department battalion chief.Two residents were trapped in the home. Fire crews accessed the home using a ladder and a chainsaw. The residents were freed from the home without injury.Neighbors said they heard a loud boom then a crash. Tree fell onto this house early this morning in San Anselmo. No injuries thank goodness. #marin storm pic.twitter.com/ljoSHrwYjz— Sherry LaVars (@sherlavars) March 24, 2023Related ArticlesWeather | Living with trees: What you need to know about storm protection and insurance coverage Weather | Gov. Newsom relaxed water restrictions in drenched California. Why didn’t he end the drought emergency? Weather | Record snowpack, nearly full reservoi...