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5 things to know about California’s new proposed rules for insurance companies

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:14:54 GMT

By ADAM BEAM | Associated PressSACRAMENTO  — Months after California’s home insurance market was rattled by major companies pausing or restricting their coverage, the state’s top regulator said Thursday that he would write new rules aimed at persuading insurers to continue doing business in the nation’s most populous state.Seven of the 12 largest insurance companies by market share in California have either paused or restricted new policies in the state since last year.Some state lawmakers tried to come up with a bill that would address the issue. But they failed to reach an agreement before the Legislature adjourned for the year last week.Here’s a look at what California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara proposed and how it would affect the state’s insurance market:WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR INSURANCE COMPANIES?Unlike most states, California heavily regulates its property insurance market.In 1988, California voters approved Proposition 103. It said insur...

Tensions run high at another school board meeting — this time, in the heart of San Jose

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:14:54 GMT

The night began with a man dressed in a white coat with what looked like fake blood spilled over his front. He approached the podium at the Franklin-McKinley school board meeting ready to perform — and by pretending to be a doctor hell-bent on performing gender-affirmation surgeries on children, that’s what he did.“Thank you, progressive educators and those of you who glorify gender ideology and LGBTQ lifestyles,” said the man sarcastically, addressing the school board on Tuesday night.The man, who listed his name as only Noel V, was one of many speakers at yet another divisive school board meeting in the Bay Area. This one centered around the recent censure of school board member Marc Cooper, and accusations by Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, a local parents’ rights group supportive of Cooper, that Franklin-McKinley’s policies promoted teaching about LGBTQ+ issues and sex education that are inappropriate for school children.That school district on San JoseR...

49ers’ penalty-prone LB Greenlaw on officiating: ‘They’re definitely looking for me’

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:14:54 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Officials aren’t the only ones keeping an eye out for Dre Greenlaw.The 49ers linebacker is building a reputation that goes beyond the yellow flags that follow him around. When preparing to face the 49ers as a member of the Carolina Panthers, Christian McCaffrey said Greenlaw was as conspicuous as he was explosive on game film.“Everyone in the league knows who he is,” McCaffrey said Thursday. “He reminds me of a Mike Tyson kind of guy. He plays with the most violent intentions all the time. If he’s tackling you, he’s going to make you feel it, that’s for sure.“When he’s on your team, you feel a little edge of confidence. Every time No. 57 is suited up, I know I feel great.”Greenlaw has been limited in practice this week with an ankle injury but expected to face the Arizona Cardinals Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. Go ahead and assume officials will have their flags at the ready every time the 49ers’...

Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week: Isitolo Tuugamusu, Archbishop Riordan football

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:14:54 GMT

Archbishop Riordan football player Isitolo Tuugamusu is the Bay Area News Group’s boys high school athlete of the week for Sept. 18-23 after he received 37.05% of the vote.Lincoln-San Jose football player Kyan Phillips (36.79%) took second.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Tuugamusu tied a West Catholic Athletic League record with five touchdowns in the Crusaders’ 41-34 victory over St. Ignatius to open the league schedule. The freshman scored all of his points on the ground, finishing with 91 yards in 23 carries as Riordan improved to 3-1.To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email [email protected] by Monday, Oct. 1, at 11 a.m. Please include stats and team results.We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches/team statisticians for consideration.Winners are announced each Friday on the Mercury News & East Bay Times websites and in the print edition of the Mercury News and EB Times sports sections.Related ...

Opinion: Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s New Deal: She’s in charge

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:14:54 GMT

If you want to know if the government is going to shut down on Sept. 30, there’s no need to bother asking House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He doesn’t know. Without being able to control his caucus, McCarthy’s guess is as good as yours or mine.Instead, you’d be best served to ask U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who has vaulted from back-bench pariah to lynch-pin power player in Washington, thanks to the patronage of McCarthy himself.In exchange for her vote for speaker, McCarthy gave Greene slots on powerful committees earlier this year. But with just a four-vote margin on any given day, McCarthy also gave Greene and the other far-right members enormous leverage over him through new House rules. They can call a vote of no confidence at any time to boot him as speaker. Even as he works to negotiate spending packages with Democrats, which he must, or make incremental progress on big issues, he’s never more than a few votes away from irrelevance and disgrace.In a d...

Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Kendyll Winn, Mountain View volleyball

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:14:54 GMT

Mountain View volleyball player Kendyll Winn is the Bay Area News Group’s girls high school athlete of the week for Sept. 18-23 after she received 34.17% of the vote.Miramonte water polo player Rosalie Hassett (16.50%) took second.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Winn, a junior libero, had a productive weekend at a tournament for the Spartans. She had 10 aces, 69 digs, 13 assists and 56 serve receptions. Mountain View went 5-1.To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email [email protected] by Monday, Oct. 1, at 11 a.m. Please include stats and team results.We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches/team statisticians for consideration.Winners are announced each Friday on the Mercury News & East Bay Times websites and in the print edition of the Mercury News and EB Times sports sections.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports | Bay Area high school football 2023: Week 6 preview, schedule High Sch...

Opinion: Let’s be bold about housing needs across the Bay Area

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:14:54 GMT

Silicon Valley investors are securing property in Solano County. The ultra-wealthy in our region have a serious role to play contributing toward solutions to our housing shortage, and indeed many of them have helped fund housing programs to address the issue. It’s vital to build more housing to ensure that everyone who calls the Bay Area home has a place to live. Yet it seems as if this group of Silicon Valley elites, instead of saying, “Yes in my backyard,” is saying, “I’ll take your backyard instead!”The Bay Area housing shortage stems from slow home construction, skewed toward high-end properties, which has pushed rent prices to record highs. It’s basic supply and demand. Now, nearly 4 in 10 households in the Bay Area pay 30% of their income or more for housing — far too much.In Solano County, we need to build more than 1,700 homes for very low-income buyers and renters. So far, only 129 permits have been granted. My advice to these developers is to ...

Police officer shoots man brandishing BB gun near Bay Area middle school

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:14:54 GMT

Fairfield police shot a citizen who was brandishing a handgun near East Tabor Avenue yesterday afternoon, not far from Cleo Grange Middle School.40-year-old Fairfield resident Osiris Santos sustained a non-life-threatening injury and was released from the hospital a few hours later, being arrested under suspicion of felony assault on a peace officer.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Man shot to death during confrontation with Hayward police identified Crime and Public Safety | City of Hayward identifies officers who fired guns in fatal police shooting Crime and Public Safety | Two dead at East Bay car service center after man shoots woman, then police kill suspect Crime and Public Safety | Vallejo police releases report mandating return of Sean Monterrosa shooter Crime and Public Safety | Vallejo officer explains why he shot man who allegedly tried to kill him Santos was alleged to have been seen...

Conservative donors ramp up efforts to urge Youngkin to run for president, report says

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:14:54 GMT

Watch Video: Republican donors push for Youngkin to enter 2024 raceSome of the country’s most prominent anti-Trump conservative figures and donors are quietly ramping up their efforts to convince Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to run for president, in light of a race for the Republican nomination that appears to be at a standstill, with former President Donald Trump holding onto a commanding lead in polls in early-voting states and nationally, CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa reports.And Youngkin, asked by Fox News Thursday whether he’d rule out a late entry into the race, responded, “I’ve told you — I’m totally focused on Virginia elections, and that’s what we’re gonna get done.” But he did not explicitly say that he would not run.Among those who are pressing the Virginia governor to run ahead of a Virginia Beach donor event on Oct. 17-18 are former Attorney General Bill Barr. “If the governor indic...

A green card processing change means US could lose thousands of faith leaders from abroad

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:14:54 GMT

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — For more than two hours on a Sunday afternoon, the Rev. Gustavo Castillo led the Pentecostal congregation he’s been growing in this Minneapolis suburb through prayer, Scriptures, rousing music and sometimes tearful testimonials.But it all may end soon. A sudden procedural change in how the federal government processes green cards for foreign-born religious workers, together with historic highs in numbers of illegal border crossers, means that thousands of clergy like him are losing the ability to remain in this country.“We were right on the edge of becoming permanent residents, and boom, this changed,” Colombia-born Castillo said as his wife rocked their 7-month-old boy, a U.S. citizen by birth. “We have done everything correctly, from here onward we believe that God will work a miracle. We don’t have any other option.”To become permanent U.S. residents, which can eventually lead to citizenship, immigrants apply for green cards, generally through U.S. ...