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Who’s behind new bid to legalize sports betting in California?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:50:44 GMT

California voters last year dealt a crushing bust to a pair of competing ballot initiatives to legalize sports wagering, but the Golden State is too big of a prize for gaming interests to just fold and walk away. Now, a mystery player has anted up for another round at the ballot box.Proponents have filed with the state Attorney General’s Office to launch a pair of proposed measures for the November 2024 ballot that would allow on-site and online sports betting in the Golden State through the state’s recognized Indian tribes. But California’s gaming tribes aren’t on board, and it’s unclear who’s bankrolling the effort.“That seems to be the million dollar question — who are these people?” said Robert Linnehan, regulatory writer and editor at XLMedia, which specializes in online gambling and sports betting. “Why did they take it upon themselves to submit two ballot measures on behalf of the tribes who say they want nothing to ...

Former A’s executive asks MLB owners to reject Las Vegas move

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:50:44 GMT

Editor’s Note: Major League Baseball owners are scheduled to meet Nov. 14-16 in Nashville, during which time they are expected to vote on the A’s proposed move to Las Vegas. Andy Dolich, whose five-decade career as a pro sports executive spanned the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, including a 15-year run with the A’s, sent this letter to 29 major league owners. (A’s owner John Fisher was not included; nor was MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.) For the A’s to move, 75% of the owners must vote their approval.It is my understanding that MLB team owners are moving closer to voting on the A’s relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas.From 1980-1994 I was the VP of Business Operations under the Haas family ownership when the Oakland A’s were winning games, filling seats and exemplifying the very best of teamwork, leadership and trust throughout the Northern California market.Relocating this franchise to Las Vegas would be a major mistake for Major League Baseball a...

Apple has plans to eventually, maybe revolutionize health care

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:50:44 GMT

By Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett | BloombergIn 2011, a startup called Avolonte Health set up shop in a small office park in Palo Alto, California. The company operated out of a bland, two-story building bristling with security cameras. Engineers interviewing for jobs there weren’t even told what they’d be working on. Once new hires made their way into the lab, however, they learned that they would be trying to revolutionize diabetes care.Avolonte wasn’t just any health-care company. It was a project of Apple Inc., and its mission came directly from Steve Jobs. Apple’s co-founder and then-chief executive officer, ill with the pancreatic cancer that would take his life near the end of that year, had tasked a group of his key executives to develop a noninvasive blood sugar monitor. It would be a potentially life-changing technology for diabetics, who would no longer need to prick themselves to monitor their blood glucose. Medical device makers had tried for years to develop something l...

How metal band Slaughter hit the jackpot by playing casinos

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:50:44 GMT

Mark Slaughter, the lead singer of the hair metal band Slaughter, grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada where some of the music industry’s most iconic acts, such as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, elevated their stardom by contributing to a budding casino entertainment industry.As a Vegas local, Slaughter saw a different side of the city that was rapidly changing, but never really saw himself performing at casinos in his hometown and beyond.“It was green acres of lights when I was a kid, and it certainly has exploded into the big city Las Vegas is now,” Slaughter said in a recent phone interview. “When I grew up there, everybody knew everybody, and it was a small little town. I never would have imagined that we would be able to play casinos. We’ve played several places out there, including the Golden Nugget, which is the Sinatra room, and it’s kind of cool because that’s where he used to do his show every night. You realize the size of the showroom and what people were seeing, and you get a...

Walters: California GOP delegation vulnerable after McCarthy’s ouster

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:50:44 GMT

When a handful of uber-right Republicans forced Speaker Kevin McCarthy out, they may have doomed GOP chances of retaining marginal seats in California and thus control of the House.McCarthy, whose district is centered in Bakersfield, made winning seats in his native state a high priority, recruiting candidates and supplying them with whatever money they needed. It paid off last year when Republicans won back four of the seven California districts they had lost during the 2020 presidential election and, by some analyses, provided McCarthy with the narrow margin he needed to become speaker.The current count is 221 Republicans and 212 Democrats with two vacancies, so it wouldn’t take much for the latter to regain the majority they had held for many years prior to 2022.The GOP victory forced long-serving Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco to cede the gavel to McCarthy, her arch-rival from 250 miles to the southeast. However its narrowness compelled McCarthy to make concessions to the...

49ers mailbag: Chase Young’s impact should reverberate into secondary

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:50:44 GMT

SANTA CLARA – Tuesday’s trade for Chase Young not only addressed the 49ers’ insatiable appetite for defensive linemen, but that deadline-beating deal also sparked more questions for this week’s social media mailbag:How does this help a secondary that can’t cover anyone? (@BrianPA1841910)The 49ers, since Day 1 under Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, insist their defensive line takes top priority. Pressuring (and sacking) quarterbacks makes it harder to pick on good/bad/ugly defensive backs, who simply are set up to fail under the NFL’s pass-friendly rules. Javon Hargrave was this offseason’s expensive addition to bring interior pressure next to Arik Armstead, but there hasn’t been a consistent push or threat.Since picking Bosa No. 2 in 2019, the 49ers have been on a safari, in search of a complementary sack animal: Dee Ford, Kerry Hyder, Jordan Willis, Dion Jordan, Samson Ebukam, Arden Key, Charles Omenihu, Drake Jackson, Clelin Ferrell, Randy Gregory, and, now Young, Bosa’s Ohio State t...

Crisp: The majority of Americans want their country back

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:50:44 GMT

While I was familiarizing myself with Mike Johnson of Louisiana, our new speaker of the House, news arrived of a uniquely American event, another mass shooting, this time in a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine.The details are characteristic: Kids were having a good time at youth night in the bowling alley when a white male opened fire with an assault-style, semiautomatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine. Despite Maine’s permissive gun laws — concealed carry is allowed without a permit — no good guy with a gun stepped up. At least 18 are reported killed and many more wounded.Which made me wonder: Why can’t we Americans have a society that more closely resembles the one that most of us want?The fact is, polling shows that most Americans favor stricter gun laws in general, and when specific elements of gun policy are assessed, the numbers are persuasive. For example, according to the Pew Research Center, 61% of Americans say that it is too easy to obtain a gun and...

European Commission’s chief tells Bosnia to unite in seeking EU membership

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:50:44 GMT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The European Commission chief on Wednesday urged Bosnia to speak “with one voice,” regardless of the country’s different ethnic groups, so that it can move forward toward joining the European Union after gaining candidate status last year. The remarks by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen came as she wrapped up her tour of Western Balkan EU hopefuls in Bosnia’s capital of Sarajevo. “My first message is basically re-emphasizing that Bosnia-Herzegovina’s future is in (the) European Union and how much we want to have you as a full member,” she said. “The work you’ve done in your first year … shows that the country can deliver.”As the war rages in Ukraine, EU officials have sought to push the integration process forward and encourage Balkan nations to boost reforms. During her trip, von der Leyen discussed details of the 6 billion-euro ($6.37 billion) package for Western Balkan countries.The six countries — Albania, B...

Trinity Capital: Q3 Earnings Snapshot

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:50:44 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — PHOENIX (AP) — Trinity Capital Inc. (TRIN) on Wednesday reported third-quarter profit of $16.8 million.On a per-share basis, the Phoenix-based company said it had profit of 40 cents. Earnings, adjusted for investment costs, were 55 cents per share.The results matched Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 55 cents per share.The business development company posted revenue of $46.4 million in the period, which topped Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $44.4 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on TRIN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/TRINSource

Live updates | Israeli airstrikes hit refugee camp for a second day

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:50:44 GMT

Israeli airstrikes have hit apartment buildings in a refugee camp near Gaza City for a second day in a row, causing many deaths and injuries, the Hamas-run government said. The toll from Wednesday’s strikes was not immediately known. Meanwhile, dozens of people with foreign passports entered the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt. It appeared to be the first time that foreign passport holders have been allowed to leave the besieged territory since the start of the Israel-Hamas war more than three weeks ago. Communications and internet services were gradually being restored after the second major cut in five days, according to Paltel, the main service provider. Humanitarian aid agencies have warned that such blackouts severely disrupt their work in an already dire situation in Gaza.The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 8,525, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 122 Palestinians have been killed in violence a...