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SF Giants not giving up on slumping David Villar, but third base is no longer his job

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants aren’t giving up on David Villar, but for now, third base is no longer his job.Villar was on the bench again on Wednesday as he continues to sit against most right-handed pitchers. It’s somewhat of a surprise given the Giants were using Villar as the three-hole hitter during the first week of the season and expected him to be their everyday third baseman.“Unless you just signed a fresh multi-year contract, there’s always competition for playing time,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “We were going to give him every opportunity to hold onto that third base job, but things happen.”The good news is that Villar isn’t chasing bad pitches. He’s among the best in baseball at staying in the zone.The bad news is that even while swinging at pitches that are strikes, Villar has been among the worst players at making contact. His contact rate of 63% is fourth-worst among 224 players with at least 90 plate appearances. Overall, he’s hitting .151 with a .570 OPS and fou...

Single family residence sells in Palo Alto for $2.5 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

4001 Middlefield Road – Google Street ViewA 1,287-square-foot house built in 1951 has changed hands. The property located in the 4000 block of Middlefield Road in Palo Alto was sold on April 26, 2023. The $2,502,000 purchase price works out to $1,944 per square foot. The property features three bedrooms, two baths, a garage, and one parking space. There’s also a pool in the backyard. The unit sits on a 6,100-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently changed hands nearby:On Sutherland Drive, Palo Alto, in August 2022, a 1,097-square-foot home was sold for $2,508,000, a price per square foot of $2,286. The home has 3 bedrooms and 1 bathrooms.A 1,255-square-foot home on the 700 block of East Charleston Road in Palo Alto sold in March 2023, for $2,470,500, a price per square foot of $1,969. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.In July 2022, a 1,097-square-foot home on Middlefield Road in Palo Alto sold for $2,501,000, a price per square foot of $2,280. The home has 3 bedrooms a...

Tom Cruise’s rocky road to romancing Shakira would include Scientology, her tax problems

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

Tom Cruise might be setting himself up for a real-life impossible mission: Pursuing Latin music queen Shakira.After the “Top Gun” star and the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer were photographed hanging out together at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami over the weekend, people began whispering about a possible romance in the works. A source told Page Six that the two have “chemistry” and he sent her flowers. “He is extremely interested in pursuing her,” the source said.That may be true but Cruise, 60, could face some serious hurdles in generating anything serious with Shakira, 46.On one hand, the pop diva is single and presumably available, having split from her longtime boyfriend, Gerard Piqué, last June, amid allegations he was having an affair with his now-girlfriend Clara Chia Marti.“Shakira needs a soft pillow to fall on, and that could be Tom,” the source told Page Six. The source added that Cruise has the benefit of being, “a nice-looking guy, ...

The statistic that indicates SF Giants ace Logan Webb could have his best season yet in 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — The same approach that haunted Logan Webb earlier in the season is starting to pay dividends over his last four starts, when he’s once again looking like one of the best starting pitchers in the game.Webb is playing good old fashioned hardball.He’s challenging hitters with his best stuff and attacking them without hesitation. Of the 75 qualified starters in MLB this year, Webb is sixth in first-strike percentage (71%) and tied for sixth in total strike percentage (68%). Both numbers are up from his career averages of 65% in both categories.“That’s something we identified for Webb as a way to be even better than he has been in the past,” said Giants manager Gabe Kapler. “It’s also just our general pitching philosophy.”His relentless approach was hard to ignore in the Giants’ 4-1 win over the Nationals on Tuesday night. He threw 81 strikes on 105 pitches, marking the first time in his career he’s thrown at least 80 strikes and the first time a Giants pitche...

No charges filed in case of man allegedly attacked in Danville Costco parking lot over parking space

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

DANVILLE, Calif. (KRON) – The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office has declined to file charges in a case involving a Danville man who said he was attacked over a parking spot. It happened outside of Costco Sunday morning.An official with the Town of Danville told KRON4 that the DA's office reviewed the case which involved battery between two men that took place in the Danville Costco parking lot last Sunday. Teen girls accused of robbing, stomping on victim in Berkeley One of the men, Craig Blackburn said he spent six hours in the hospital after he says a man beat him in the Costco parking lot. He needed X-rays and a CAT scan, and he’s being monitored for concussion symptoms.It all started as a normal Sunday morning for Blackburn. He did his shopping at the Costco at 3150 Fostoria Way and grabbed a hot dog on his way out.He was eating it while loading his car when a man pulled up in a white Toyota Corolla, put his turn signal on, and waited for the parking spot. But Bla...

Police, FBI investigating 1996 missing woman cold case in Redwood City park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

(KRON) -- Stulsaft Park in Redwood City is closed due to police activity as law enforcement officers look for new evidence related to the 1996 disappearance of Ylva Hagner, KRON4 has confirmed. Police are searching in the park and at a nearby location in the backyard of a home on the 3700 block of Farm Hill Boulevard. No charges filed in case of man allegedly attacked in Danville Costco parking lot over parking space Authorities declined to elaborate as to what evidence might have surfaced that led them to search the two locations. The Belmont Police Department is the lead agency in the case; however, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is also involved in the activity."The FBI is working with the Belmont PD this morning," an FBI spokesperson told KRON4. "We are providing forensic support with our evidence response team."The park is closed currently but is expected to reopen later this morning.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Newsom 'not backing away' from reparation cash payments yet, spokesperson says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

(KTXL) — Gov. Gavin Newsom did not explicitly endorse cash payments to some Black residents as recommended by the California Reparations Task Force earlier this month, but in a Wednesday morning statement, his spokesperson said that Newsom is "not backing away" from the payments.An earlier statement shared with media outlets said that dealing with the nation's history of slavery and discrimination of Black Americans "is about much more than cash payments," a statement that neither fully supported or rejected the task force's recommendation on monetary reparations. Here’s how much Black Californians could individually receive in reparations payments "Many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are critical action items we’ve already been hard at work addressing..." Newsom's Chief Communication Advisor Anthony York said in the earlier statement.York clarified Wednesday that the governor "is not backing away from cash payments, but wants to wait for the report in its en...

Antioch PD racist text messages spur civil rights investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

(KRON) -- A civil rights investigation into the Antioch Police Department will be initiated in relation to racist text messages sent between officers, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced. The investigation is intended to determine if the department "engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing amid deeply concerning allegations relating to bigoted text messages and other potentially discriminatory misconduct," read a press release from Bonta's office Wednesday. Man arrested in connection with multiple bank robberies by San Jose PD At the center of the investigation are a series of racist text messages sent between Antioch PD officers that came to light last month. In the texts, which were made available to the media through the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office, officers referred to Black people as "zoo" and "circus" animals.Antioch Chief of Police Steve Ford described the texts as "racially abhorrent.""It is our job to protect and serve all of o...

Fed’s Barkin: Inflation still ‘stubbornly high’ and isn’t easing fast enough toward 2% target

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

Inflation remains “stubbornly high” and is no longer making much progress toward the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, a top Fed official said Wednesday, hours after price data for April were released.In an interview, Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said he is also seeing some signs that banks in his region — which includes Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia — are slowing their lending. It isn’t yet clear, he said, what consequences that trend might have on the economy and inflation.For now, Barkin said, inflation remains unacceptably high. A government report Wednesday on consumer prices in April showed that inflation fell to 4.9%, the lowest year-over-year level in two years. Yet excluding volatile food and energy costs, inflation stayed high from March to April and was up 5.5% from a year earlier, little changed since December. Barkin noted that the latest figures reflected some one-time fluctuations — sharp drops in a...

Here are the 13 counts New York Rep. George Santos faces

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A 13-count federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in New York accuses U.S. Rep. George Santos of embezzling money from his campaign, falsely receiving unemployment funds and lying to Congress about his finances. In a news release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said the charges against the New York Republican include three counts of “money laundering,” though the indictment doesn’t use that specific phrasing.The following are the counts Santos faces as they are described in the indictment, and the maximum sentences as spelled out in the U.S. criminal code:COUNTS 1-5: “Wire Fraud — Fraudulent Political Contribution Solicitation Scheme”Wire fraud refers to the use of telephones, email or other forms of communication to commit a crime. Such charges are common in a wide range of criminal cases, from drug trafficking to political corruption.In Santos’ case, these counts relate to allegations that he hoodwinked donors into contributing money...