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Failing Phoenix: Santa Clara County knew of parents’ drug use, previous neglect and ‘very high’ risks leading up to baby’s fentanyl death

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:18:31 GMT

SAN JOSE – Looking back, it was hard to miss the signs that foretold the tragedy of Phoenix Castro’s short life.Two months before the baby’s birth, her pregnant mother and father submitted to a drug test as part of a safety plan to get their two older children back from Santa Clara County’s child welfare agency.Their tests both came back positive — for opiates, cocaine and methamphetamine.The day after Phoenix was born with neonatal opioid withdrawal symptoms, a social worker was called to the hospital to determine whether the baby would be safe with her troubled family in the two-bedroom apartment off Blossom Hill Road in South San Jose.The result of that assessment, revealed in nearly 200 pages of documents obtained this week by the Bay Area News Group, sounded an alarm in the starkest terms:Neglect Risk Level: Very High.Abuse Risk Level: High.Final Risk Level: Very High.But even another dire warning from a social worker overseeing the case of the couple’s two older children wasn’...

APEC trade summit, high-level ‘schmoozing’ put Bay Area in spotlight

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:18:31 GMT

Presidents, prime ministers and prominent CEOs are gathering this week in San Francisco for two Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summits to forge and strengthen trade relationships among the 21 member countries — while local business groups hold piggy-back events and thousands of protesters prepare to disrupt the proceedings under a global spotlight.The APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, which runs through Friday, is being promoted as the largest gathering of world leaders in the city since 1945. Heads of state from member countries, including President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, are set to attend, with about 1,200 CEOs and nearly 30,000 delegates from governments and organizations expected for the summits.The influx, with security measures including road closures and checkpoints, will restrict movement within the city and is expected to snarl traffic.The complementary CEO Summit running Tuesday through Thursday will provide the Bay Area with rare opportunities to ...

MLB owners will vote this week on Oakland A’s bid to move to Las Vegas; here’s what’s happened and what’s next

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:18:31 GMT

After a summer of reverse boycotts and “SELL THE TEAM” chants, Oakland A’s fans this week are bracing to hear the words they’ve been dreading for months: MLB owners have approved the A’s relocation to Las Vegas.Tuesday, all 30 owners will gather in Arlington, Texas, for the winter owner’s meetings. At the top of the agenda is the A’s pending move, with a vote expected to come at the end of the week.If 75 percent of the owners (23 of them) approve the vote, owner John Fisher will have cleared a major hurdle in his efforts to move the A’s after 55 years in Oakland. The vote is expected to pass.“It’s the next step,” said David Samson, the former president of the Montreal Expos and Florida Marlins who was involved with relocation efforts for both teams. “It’s a step. It’s not the final step. Even with a relocation approval vote, that doesn’t mean Oakland is losing its team.“What they will approve is for the A’s to relocate to Las Vegas. But that’s not baseb...

Dear Abby: These men hijacked our sentimental lunch. Am I wrong to be upset?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:18:31 GMT

DEAR ABBY: After my husband’s younger brother recently passed away, the family gathered. When one group of nephews arrived in a city an hour away from us, we were invited to lunch. (The restaurant was where the nephews had first been introduced to beer by their now-deceased uncle.)Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: The bride is my best friend, but I’m not comfortable with her plan Advice | Dear Abby: At 3 a.m. there were two strange girls in my house Advice | Dear Abby: My son is in tears when my mother tells him he must walk Advice | Dear Abby: The thoughtless grandchildren won’t be happy about this gift Advice | Dear Abby: I like to video people who are behaving badly My husband didn’t want to go, saying it was silly to drive that far for one meal. I persuaded him to go, to celebrate family ties and spend time with these nephews we seldom see.When we arrived, one of the nephews...

Patriots LB Ja’Whaun Bentley inactive against Colts in Frankfurt

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:18:31 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Patriots linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley was inactive for Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.Bentley misses the game because of a hamstring injury, after playing in all nine of New England’s previous games this season.Rookie Colts wide receiver Josh Downs is active after he had been listed as questionable and hadn’t practiced because of a knee injury. Cornerback Jack Jones and wide receiver Demario Douglas had been questionable but are active for the Patriots.Indianapolis’ inactives were guard Arlington Hambright, center Jack Anderson, linebacker Cameron McGrone, tight end Drew Ogletree and cornerback CB JuJu Brents. Ogletree and Brents had been ruled out with injuries earlier in the week.New England’s inactives were CB Alex Austin, DE Sam Roberts, emergency third-choice quarterback Will Grier, WR DeVante Parker, OT Trent Brown and CB J.C. Jackson. Parker remains out with concussion, and Brown didn’t make the ...

Homa wins Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa for 1st win abroad

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:18:31 GMT

SUN CITY, South Africa (AP) — Max Homa can finally say he’s an international winner. Homa shot a 6-under 66 to win the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa on Sunday for his first win abroad.Homa finished at 19 under for the tournament, four shots ahead of Nicolai Hojgaard to add to his six PGA Tour career titles. Homa secured the win with a final round that included six birdies, an eagle and two bogeys. He pulled away at the top after consecutive birdies on the 15th and 16th holes, where he drained a 38-footer on the par-3.“It’s kind of what you dream of, you want to be in the fight and it was just fun to kind of close it out at the end,” he said. “It was one of those weeks the ball wanted to go in when it needed to go in.”Hojgaard — who played against Homa at the Ryder Cup — had four birdies in a bogey-free final round 68. Fellow Danish player Thorbjorn Olesen finished third after a 3-under 69 that included two bogeys and a double bogey in his last seven holes....

Fairfax man wins $5 million from scratch-off ticket

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:18:31 GMT

Alexandr Pichshev won $5 million after purchasing a scratch-off ticket at a Safeway in Fairfax, Virginia. (Courtesy Virginia Lottery) Alexandr Pichshev won $5 million after purchasing a scratch-off ticket at a Safeway in Fairfax, Virginia. (Courtesy Virginia Lottery) A man in Fairfax, Virginia, decided on a whim to buy a few scratch-off tickets from the lottery machine after doing some grocery shopping.And that decision paid off.Alexandr Pichshev recently won $5 million on the “$326,000,000 Fortune ticket” scratch-off game at the Safeway at 3043 Nutley Street in Fairfax, according to a news release from the Virginia Lottery.“It was unexpected,” Pichshev of Fairfax City told Virginia Lottery...

Man stabbed ‘multiple times’ outside Dulles Town Center

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:18:31 GMT

A man was pulled from his car and stabbed “multiple times” in the parking lot of Dulles Town Center in Sterling on Friday evening.At 9:45 p.m., deputies responded to the mall parking lot, where they learned the victim was approached by two men wearing masks as he got into his car, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.The men opened the vehicle door, pulled the victim out, and stabbed him multiple times before fleeing in a dark-colored four-door sedan, the release said. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment of his non-life-threatening injuries.The first suspect was described as a male of unknown race, 5’6 to 5’8 inches tall, stocky build, wearing blue jeans, a yellow shirt, a black jacket, black gloves, and a black ski mask.The second subject is described as a male of unknown race, tall, and slender, wearing black pants, a blue shirt, a black jacket, black gloves, and a black ski mask.Detectives are looking into the motive behi...

State police searching for driver who fled after fatal crash on I-95 in Stafford

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:18:31 GMT

State police are searching for a driver who ran from the scene after a Saturday crash on Interstate 95 in Stafford County that killed his passenger.The wreck happened about 4:08 p.m. near the 140 milemarker when a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder traveling northbound in the right lane suddenly ran off the left side of the roadway, collided with an embankment and overturned, state police said in a news release.An adult male passenger in the Nissan was ejected and died at the scene, the release said. The driver of the Nissan fled the scene on foot before law enforcement arrived.The driver is believed to be a Hispanic adult male. He was last seen wearing a green sweatshirt and dark-colored pants.Anyone with information is encouraged to call Virginia State Police Master Trooper J. Fletcher at 804-750-8778 or email [email protected]

UN sounds alarm on Darfur, warns world not to repeat history

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:18:31 GMT

Escalating bloodshed since the outbreak of civil war in Sudan could lead to another genocide, the United Nations warned after a sharp uptick of violence in Darfur.The U.N. Refugee Agency said on Friday that it was “gravely concerned” following the mass killing of at least 800 people within 72 hours as part of the ethnic cleansing of minorities conducted by the Arab paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and its allies in the Ardamata refugee camp in West Darfur this week.Reports from Ardamata detail how paramilitary forces armed with assault rifles went door to door shooting men and boys, leaving their corpses scattered on the street.About 30,000 non-Arab Sudanese civilians — largely members of the Masalit tribe — had sought shelter in the Ardamata camp since mid-April, when war broke out between Sudan’s two top generals, Sudanese military Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum attributed the mass killing to the RSF, further expressing...