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SF Giants’ Taira Uematsu wants to be MLB’s first Japanese-born base coach. Why stop there?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:01 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Taira Uematsu’s day began, like it always does, before dawn.It’s 6 o’clock now, as he slides into the corner table under his name at a sushi hotspot here — he just ran into Ichiro’s translator at the same spot last week — 12 hours since he arrived at the ballpark, first in the building, as usual.Twelve-hour days are tame for Uematsu, who puts in his order and begins to play with his chopsticks. His hands tell a story. His left thumb is permanently altered from a Hunter Strickland fastball, and the index finger next to it turns blue while he sleeps. Proof of the physical toll of more than a decade of grunt work, of never saying no, of being “Mr. Omnipresent.”Uematsu, 39, might be the most important person in a Giants uniform whom you’ve never heard of. One of the handful of folks left in the building with three World Series rings, Uematsu predates every current player and just about everyone else. He joined the organization in 2006, five years after moving to the ...

Athletics’ Sears, Guardians’ Kwan dispel notion of baseball’s prototypes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:01 GMT

OAKLAND — When Steven Kwan settles into the batter’s box as anticipated for the Cleveland Guardians Tuesday night to lead off the game against left-hander JP Sears of the Athletics, it’s a victory for every aspiring player who looks at the requisite prototypes of big leaguers and wonders how they can ever measure up.Sears, 27, is in a precarious position as the No. 5 starter on a team with two projected starters currently on the injured list and expected to join the rotation at some point.Kwan, 25, is the former Washington High of Fremont star entrenched as the Guardians’ leadoff batter, playing an old-school style of baseball while disregarding the trend of recent years which bowed at the altar of power while shrugging off the indignity of the strikeout.He was in the middle of everything Monday night in a 12-11, 10-inning win for the Guardians, hitting a single, a double, a sacrifice fly and scoring three runs.The Sears-Kwan opening act will serve as a remin...

The California bills on a business ‘kill list’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:01 GMT

By Grace Gedye |CalMattersThe California Legislature, with its Democratic supermajority, is known for passing first-in-the-nation laws that ramp up labor and consumer protections — often in the face of intense opposition from business groups.At the same time, the California Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business lobbying group, has honed a specific strategy with a high success rate — labeling bills it deems most burdensome “job-killers” and tracking them on an annual list.This week, the chamber announced its initial list for 2023. Among the bills are:A new tax on total wealth for individuals with a net worth of $50 million or more, introduced by Assemblymember Alex Lee, a Milpitas Democrat. Unlike an income tax, a tax on overall wealth is unprecedented in the U.S.Lee argues that ultra-wealthy people are able to avoid paying much in income taxes by holding assets, like stocks and property, and borrowing against them. The revenue raised by the tax would be used to invest in “schools...

Raincoats, undies, school uniforms: Are your clothes dripping in ‘forever chemicals’?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:01 GMT

By Hannah Norman | Kaiser Health NewsThere could be more than just fashion risks involved when buying a pair of leggings or a raincoat.Just how much risk is still not clear, but toxic chemicals have been found in hundreds of consumer products and clothing bought off the racks nationwide.Thousands of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, exist since the first ones were invented in the 1940s to prevent stains and sticking. PFAS chemicals are used in nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, and firefighting foam. Their manufacture and persistence in products have contaminated drinking water nationwide. Also known as “forever chemicals,” these substances do not break down in the environment and can accumulate in our bodies over time.Drinking water is widely considered the greatest source of potential exposure and harm. And, in March, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first national standard for PFAS levels in drinking water. But the chemicals can als...

Apple to make job cuts in some corporate retail teams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:01 GMT

By Mark Gurman | BloombergApple Inc. is eliminating a small number of roles within its corporate retail teams, according to people with knowledge of the matter, marking its first known internal job cuts since it embarked on a belt-tightening effort last year.The company is shedding positions in what it calls its development and preservation teams, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the move hasn’t been announced. Those groups are responsible for the construction and upkeep of Apple retail stores and other facilities around the world.While the number of positions being eliminated couldn’t be ascertained and is likely very small, the move represents a new step for the world’s most valuable company, whose peers have been slashing their ranks in the face of a shaky economy and sluggish consumer spending.Apple is positioning the move as a streamlining effort, rather than layoffs. It told employees that the changes were designed to improve upkeep of stores globally an...

NWSL announces Bay Area expansion team

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:01 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The National Women's Soccer League has announced that the Bay Area is on track to be awarded an expansion team in 2024. The team, which has yet to be named, would be the 14th franchise in the 11-year-old professional women's soccer league.Four former U.S. Women's National Team players have been brought in to help develop the team. Former USWNT players Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner will also be the public faces of the team. The players, who are being called the club's "Founding Football Four," will reportedly represent the club's majority women board and have an input into the team's strategic direction. Wiggins reportedly set to rejoin Warriors this week The ex-players will be working in partnership with majority investor, Sixth Street, a global investment firm with previous experience investing in international soccer powerhouses Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.Domestically, the group also has ties to the NBA's San Antonio Sp...

3 San Francisco shootings in 1 day leave 1 dead, 14-year-old injured

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:01 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Over the weekend, the San Francisco Police Department responded to several unrelated shootings, according to police. On Saturday, officers investigated three separate shootings, one of which resulted in a homicide, police said.Around 10:17 a.m., officers responded to a shooting involving a postal worker. The suspect allegedly came out of a house on Sparta Street in Visitacion Valley with a gun and shot at and missed the postal worker. Police said they recovered a stolen gun and arrested the suspect, Vo Ngyuen, 38. Ngyuen was booked for attempted homicide and will be charged federally, officials said. Pleasant Hill shooting victim identified Around 1 p.m., a 52-year-old victim was shot and killed on the 200 block of Golden Gate in the Tenderloin.Around 10:30 p.m., a 14-year-old was shot when multiple suspects started shooting out of a car near Eddy Street in the Filmore District, police said. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries. SFPD said it i...

Masters only big show in town as other tours take week off

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:01 GMT

AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUBSite: Augusta, Georgia.Course: Augusta National GC. Yardage: 7,545. Par: 72.Prize money: TBA. Last year: $15 million (Winner’s share: $2.7 million).Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (ESPN); Saturday, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. (CBS).Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler.Last year: Scottie Scheffler capped off an incredible 56-day stretch by winning the Masters for his fourth victory of the year. He four-putted the final hole for double bogey and shot 1-under 71 to win by three shots over Rory McIlroy.Notes: Scottie Scheffler will try to join Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only back-to-back winners of the Masters. … Woods is making only his second start of the year. This is his fourth tournament against elite competition since last year’s Masters. He has never missed the cut at Augusta National as a pro. … This is the fifth time in the last eight years the field has been fewer tha...

Switzerland to host Women’s Euro 2025 soccer tournament

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:01 GMT

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Switzerland was chosen Tuesday to host soccer’s Women’s European Championship in 2025.UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said the executive committee chose the Swiss bid over three other candidates after the maximum three rounds of voting. The other candidates were France, Poland and the expected favorite, a four-nation Nordic project with Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.The 2025 tournament will have 16 teams playing 31 games over about three weeks.Switzerland plans to use stadiums in eight different cities all connected by train. They include Basel, Bern, Geneva and Zurich, which also hosted games when the men’s Euro 2008 was held in Switzerland and Austria.Two of the eight stadiums, in Bern and Thun, have artificial turf surfaces that should be converted to grass for the tournament. England won the last European Championship as host in 2022, which had been postponed for one year during the COVID-19 pandemic. The men’s Euro 2020, which was pla...

Arrestan a una de las parejas más buscadas de EEUU en México: los acusan de torturar a sus hijos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:01 GMT

Cinco niños fueron rescatados tras el arresto de sus padres en México, una pareja hispana que hacía parte de la lista de los más buscados por las autoridades de Estados Unidos después de haber estado prófugos durante casi dos años.Edgar Salvador Casian Garcia, de 34 años, y su novia, Araceli Medina, de 38, fueron acusados de asesinato y múltiples cargos de abuso sexual infantil en el condado de Franklin, Washington. La pareja era considerada una de las 15 más buscadas por los alguaciles en febrero, la primera vez que una pareja figuraba en la lista.Dos de las hijas de Casian García fueron encontradas abandonadas en una gasolinera en Tijuana, México, a finales del 2020, y ambas presuntamente mostraban signos de “grave abuso físico y sexual”, según las autoridades. Las niñas tenían 8 y 3 años en ese momento. Declaran culpables a la madre de Anthony Ávalos y a su novio por la tortura y muerte del pequeño Confiesan la tortura y asesin...