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Former rideshare driver pleads guilty to kidnapping, rape

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:57 GMT

ST. LOUIS – A former Lyft driver appeared in St. Louis Circuit Court on Monday and admitted to the 2019 kidnapping and rape of a young woman.Larry Donnell Ward, 57, will be sentenced Tuesday morning after pleading guilty to first-degree kidnapping and first-degree rape.“This case is a modern urban nightmare,” St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore said. Short-term rental property owner shares concerns about proposed regulations The crime occurred on the evening of June 22, 2019. The victim had used a ride-sharing app to get a ride home from a bachelorette party at a downtown bar.The victim went to a hospital the following day for a sexual assault exam, which confirmed she'd been raped. Police collected data from the victim's phone and the ride-sharing app to discover when and where she'd been picked up and how long the ride lasted. The trip was less than five miles and cost $9.02, but it took 50 minutes. The victim's receipt also had an image of Ward.

Jamal Murray hasn’t talked contract extension with Nuggets yet, but another NBA championship is on his mind more than a supermax

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:57 GMT

Michael Malone’s challenge for Jamal Murray in the new year is also Murray’s financial incentive.Injury skepticism now completely behind him entering 2023-24, Murray is an NBA champion whose reputation as one of the league’s elite point guards has relied on his playoff pedigree, when more eyes have been on him. But his next contract is dependent on the individual, regular-season honors that he says aren’t as important to him as winning a second ring.“My challenge for Jamal is to show that you can do what you did in 20 playoff games,” Malone said at Monday’s Nuggets media day on the eve of training camp. “Because what Jamal did in the playoffs was ridiculous. I know everybody talks about the Nuggets and Nikola. And Nikola’s a great player, but what Jamal did was incredible. … Now the challenge is, OK, you did it 20 games. You showed the world what you’re capable of. I want Jamal Murray to be an All-Star. I want Jamal M...

MLB game time drops 24 minutes to 2:40 with pitch clock. Players steal most bases since 1987

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:57 GMT

By RONALD BLUM (AP Baseball Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — The average time of a nine-inning major league game dropped to 2 hours, 40 minutes in the first year of the pitch clock, a 24-minute decrease in a season of change that resulted in a spike in batting average and the most stolen bases in nearly 40 years.Left-handed hitters benefitted from the new restrictions on defensive shifts, runners took advantage of the slightly decreased distance between bases, and average fastball velocity set another record.The average game time dropped to its 1985 level after passing 3 hours for the first time in 2016. It reached a record 3:10 in 2021 before the introduction of the PitchCom electronic pitch-calling device helped bring it down to 3:04 last year. Over the objections of the players’ association, MLB instituted a pitch clock set at 15 seconds with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on base.“It took some getting used to, but once you get used to it the game’s...

All U.S. cellphones, TVs and radios will receive an alert on Oct. 4: Here's why

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:57 GMT

Every TV, radio and cellphone in the United States will receive an alert on Wednesday as the Federal Emergency Management Agency tests the Emergency Alert and Wireless Emergency Alerts systems.The national test will be done in two portions, which are both scheduled for about 11:20 a.m. PST. Tax deadline nearing for most Californians The WEA portion of the test will send a message that will read “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed,” to cellphones nationwide. The message will be displayed in either English or Spanish, depending on the phone’s language setting.  All cell phones will receive the message once and will go off even if the device is in silent mode.The EAS portion of the test will send the same message to radios and televisions nationwide.“FEMA and the FCC are coordinating with EAS participants, wireless providers, emergency managers and other stakeholders in preparation for this national test to minimize confusion and...

Kurtenbach: Chris Paul in a Warriors uniform is a funny sight, but don’t joke about his ability to improve Golden State

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:57 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Yep, this is going to take some getting used to.Chris Paul has been a Golden State Warrior since July, but on Monday, the future Hall of Famer and longtime Dubs foil walked the halls of Chase Center wearing his famous No. 3 in white, blue, and yellow.That trade was not a mirage. This is not an elaborate practical joke. This is once impossible-to-predict reality is real.Photoshoot fresh #GSWMediaDay pic.twitter.com/l8T9I3LkME— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) October 2, 2023And the jokes about being a fox in the hen house won’t stop coming Paul’s way.“It looks good,” Steph Curry said of Paul’s new Dubs duds. “I like it as opposed to the opposite for sure.”“That’s all I hear,” Paul said Monday. “From the coaches to everybody.”Even the Paul family is in on the ribbing.“The first day I came here, I took a picture of my locker and the uniform and the jersey, and I put it in my family gro...

San Jose Sharks coach strikes realistic tone on Couture’s availability for season-opener

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:57 GMT

SAN JOSE — Logan Couture’s health is improving but any optimism that the San Jose Sharks captain will be fully healthy and ready to play in the team’s regular season opener in 10 days might be starting to fade.Couture, out with an undisclosed lower-body injury, has not practiced so far in training camp and the team is still unsure as to when he’ll begin to skate again.Sharks coach David Quinn said Couture was at the team’s training facility Monday “challenging himself to see if he can continue to take the next step to get on the ice.” But with training camp already at the midway point, Quinn also struck a realistic tone as to whether Couture could be fully healthy for the Oct. 12 opener against the Vegas Golden Knights.“Whether he could go and whether he will go are two different things,” said Quinn, emphasizing that the Sharks will take a cautious approach to Couture’s return. “Every day that goes by, what we’re hearing is, ‘When he’s in, he’s in.’“With ever...

‘Age is just a number’ says 104-year-old skydiver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:57 GMT

Associated PressOTTAWA, Ill. — A 104-year-old Chicago woman is hoping to be certified as the oldest person to ever skydive after leaving her walker on the ground and making a tandem jump in northern Illinois.“Age is just a number,” Dorothy Hoffner told a cheering crowd moments after touching the ground Sunday at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, about 85 miles (140 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reported.The Guinness World Record for oldest skydiver was set in May 2022 by 103-year-old Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson from Sweden. But Skydive Chicago is working to have Guinness World Records certify Hoffner’s jump as a record, WLS-TV reported.Hoffner first skydived when she was 100. On Sunday, she left her walker behind just short of the plane — a Skyvan — and was helped up the steps to join the others waiting inside to skydive.“Let’s go, let’s go, Geronimo!” Hoffner said after she was finally seated.When she first skydived, she said s...

The top eight most expensive home sales in Oakland, reported the week of Sep. 18

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:57 GMT

A house that sold for $2.3 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Oakland in the past week.In total, eight residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $1.5 million. The average price per square foot was $745.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of Sep. 18 even if the property may have been sold earlier.8. $1.1 million, single-family house in the 300 block of Taurus Ave.The 1,186 square-foot single-family residence in the 300 block of Taurus Ave., Oakland, has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in August and the total purchase price was $1,070,000, $902 per square foot. The house was built in 1938. The house features three bedrooms and one bathrooms.7. $1.3 million, single-family residence in the 500 block of Kenwyn RoadThe property in the 500 block of Kenwyn Road in Oakland has new owners. The price was $1,250,0...

Large indoor sports complex breaks ground in this East Bay city

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:57 GMT

Basketball and volleyball enthusiasts will likely be happy to know that Pittsburg has broken ground on what is being billed as the largest indoor recreational gymnasium in the region.The city, in partnership with Discovery Homes, marked the event with a celebration last week at John Henry Johnson Park on West Leland Road where the new 45,000-square-foot multi-court sports complex will be constructed. Dubbed “Dream Courts,” it’s the first public facility of its kind to be built in many decades in the city.“I am thrilled to see the construction of the Dream Courts begin,” Pittsburg Mayor Shanelle Scales-Preston. “This project headlines the immense efforts of my colleagues on the City Council and I to bring new opportunities to the youth and young adults in our Pittsburg community.”The mayor said the center will be “capable of serving the recreation needs of all of Pittsburg, with the ability to host basketball leagues and tournaments, volleyball, dance, cheer, pickleball, camps, clini...

Shoplifter who allegedly lit Bay Area store clerk on fire charged with mayhem

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:57 GMT

(KRON) -- A Contra Costa County man accused of pouring lighter fluid on a store clerk and setting the victim on fire has been charged with mayhem.Kendall Lavanon Burton, 38, is facing a slew of felonies in connection to the September 22 attack. According to court documents obtained by KRON4 Monday, prosecutors charged Burton with aggravated mayhem, assault with caustic chemicals, arson causing great bodily injury, and robbery.The incident began in El Sobrante at Appian Food & Liquor when the clerk tried to stop Burton and a second man from shoplifting inside the store. In the middle of the scuffle, Burton threw flammable chemicals on the victim and ignited it using a lighter, according to a criminal complaint.Surveillance video from inside the convenience store shows flames suddenly igniting and burning the victim's head. The victim's co-worker can be seen in the surveillance video grabbing a baseball bat from behind the counter and attempting to fend off the two assailants. The...