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Many Californians are missing out on federal student aid. Here’s why

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:23 GMT

BY ADAM ECHELMAN | CalMattersThousands of adult Californians without a high school diploma want to take college classes. Unfortunately, those classes aren’t free, and the lack of a high school diploma cuts off access to most financial aid.The good news is, there’s a fix. The bad news is most students don’t know about the fix, and most college officials don’t understand the laws surrounding it.Federal law has a special clause that allows students lacking a high school diploma to access financial aid money they would otherwise miss. Known as the Ability to Benefit, the provision opens up federal financial aid to adults without high school degrees who enroll in GED and college classes simultaneously.California community colleges also stand to benefit financially from the law because it could allow schools to boost enrollment and the number of students on federal aid, both of which are tied to the state’s new college funding formula.More than 4 million Californians lack a high school de...

Bay Area exodus: Wealthy resident departures worsen ‘doom loop’ fears

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:23 GMT

Wealthier residents, liberated from the office by remote work, are leaving the Bay Area at a higher rate than before the pandemic — a trend that could exacerbate a dreaded economic “doom loop” for the region’s slowly recovering job centers and downtown cores.In 2021, households earning more than $150,000 made up 32% of all those moving out of the nine-county Bay Area, up from 27.6% in 2019, according to a new analysis of census data by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute.Although most of those departing are lower-income residents struggling to afford the region’s high housing costs and living expenses, the uptick in wealthy households moving out is beginning to strain local tax bases, said Abby Raisz, the institute’s research director.“The implications are really serious,” Raisz said. “We have to start thinking pretty creatively to break this cycle.”Downtowns across the Bay Area grappling with how to respond to shuttere...

CHP investigates deadly shooting on I-580 in Oakland

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:23 GMT

(KRON) -- The California Highway Patrol said it is investigating a freeway shooting that happened late Wednesday night on I-580 in Oakland. Officers said they responded to the shooting just before midnight. A preliminary investigation showed that the shooting happened on the freeway before the vehicles exited onto Oakland city streets including Lakeshore Avenue and Lake Park Avenue where one person was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene, officials told KRON4. 22 arrested in San Jose sex crimes sweep operation I-580 was closed at 14th Street until around 3 a.m. At this time, California Highway Patrol officers said they are only aware of one victim. This shooting comes after reports of a violent weekend in Oakland, including another shooting on I-580 in Oakland on Sunday.This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.

SF Board of Supervisors president Peskin invites Mayor Breed to meeting at UN Plaza

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:23 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The San Francisco Board of Supervisors president Aaron Peskin said he's putting the mayor on notice. He wants to host the board's next mayor's question time outside of City Hall--just feet away from the building, where he said there's a humanitarian crisis at the United Nations Plaza."To focus public attention and media attention on the loss of many lives to drug overdoses, open air drug dealing, we've seen too many businesses shutter and close because customers, employees, residents are not feeling safe," Peskin said.This proposal comes just days after a Whole Foods on 8th and Market announced a temporary closure, just one year after opening, because of safety concerns."Yes, I'm obviously concerned with the closure of that grocery store, but this is much more than the closure of a business and the loss of jobs. This is about a systemic response from the city and county of San Francisco," Peskin said.KRON4 reporter Amanda Hari asked Peskin if he was concerned...

Breakaway group aims to save boxing’s Olympic status

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:23 GMT

LONDON (AP) — American and British boxing officials are among the leaders of a breakaway group launched Thursday with the aim of saving boxing’s place at the Olympics.The new federation, to be called World Boxing, is a rival to the 77-year-old International Boxing Association, which has been suspended from organizing the sport at the Olympics amid longstanding concerns about fair judging and the IBA’s ties to Russia. “Amateur, Olympic-style boxing was facing elimination from the Olympic Games,” said USA Boxing president Tyson Lee, who is on the interim board of the new organization. “I can speak for the United States and many other national federations. We have a vested interest in maintaining a pathway to the Olympic movement and somewhere along the line that turned out to not be a priority for IBA.”World Boxing will be based in Switzerland and have a board consisting of athletes and officials, including Lee and GB Boxing chief executive Matthew Holt. Lauren...

Metrorail operator was eating meal when train overshot Silver Line station

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:23 GMT

A train operator is no longer employed by Metro after putting a train into automatic mode, resulting in the train overshooting a station platform last month in Herndon, Virginia.The incident happened on March 17 along the Silver Line at Innovation Station in Fairfax County.“The investigation has determined that the train operator had initially operated in ATO [automatic-control system] in passenger service, undetected by Metrorail numerous times, including multiple times on the day of the safety event,” said Washington Metrorail Safety Commission CEO David Mayer, at a Commission meeting held on Tuesday.More Local NewsMore Transportation NewsHe said the front of the train stopped over 100 feet past the end of the platform, after the train operator initiated emergency braking.Mayer said that’s not the only safety violation that was discovered. “Video related to this event demonstrates that the operator was eating a meal while operating the train, which is also ...

Indian court to rule on Rahul Gandhi’s appeal of conviction

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:23 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian court on Thursday heard an appeal from opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi to stay his conviction in a criminal defamation case for mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname which resulted in his expulsion from Parliament.Judge Robin Mogera said he will rule on the appeal on April 20. Attorneys representing Gandhi and the complainant, Purnesh Modi, a state lawmaker belonging to the prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party, presented their arguments in court on Thursday.Gandhi was exempted from appearing in court. His lawyer, R.S. Cheema, argued that the law mandates that only a person who is defamed can file a complaint.A stay of Gandhi’s conviction would stop any immediate by-election in his parliamentary constituency to replace him. After the April 20 ruling, the court will hear full arguments on the appeal from both sides for a final ruling on whether the conviction should be overturned.Gandhi was convicted last month and sentenced t...

Stocks open higher on Wall Street as inflation slows

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:23 GMT

Stocks are rising on Wall Street Thursday following the latest sign that inflation continues to cool. The S&P 500 is 0.3% higher in early trading after a report showed that inflation at the wholesale level slowed by more than expected last month. The Dow and Nasdaq are also higher at the open. A separate report Thursday said slightly more workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. Shares in Ohio-based insurer Progressive are tumbling after it reported disappointing first-quarter results. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story appears below. Trading was muted on Wall Street early Thursday, one day after a report showed that inflation in the U.S. eased and Federal Reserve officials said they expect fewer interest rate hikes this year.Futures for the Dow were mostly unchanged and futures for the S&P 500 inched up 0.1% before the bell Thursday.Government data Wednesday showed U.S. inflation declined to 5% in March from the previous month...

Qualifier Struff beats Ruud, reaches Monte Carlo quarters

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:23 GMT

MONACO (AP) — German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff took another step in his comeback from an injury as he upset fourth-seeded Casper Ruud 6-1, 7-6 (6) to reach the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday. Having been ranked 29th, Struff dropped as low as as No. 168 after sustaining a foot fracture last year during a match in Miami, an injury that left him sidelined for more than two months.Struff has enjoyed a good start to the season and returned to the Top 100 last month but had not beaten anyone in the Top 10 since June 2021, His aggressive style of play resulted in 37 winners and 23 points won at the net against Ruud, who dropped his serve four times.Struff ended Ruud’s nine-match winning streak on clay. The 2022 French Open runner-up had won his past two tournaments on the surface, in Gstaad last July and in Estoril last week. Struff will next be up against 2021 runner-up Andrey Rublev, who beat Karen Khachanov 7-6 (4), 6-2 at the Country Club.“We know each ot...

First QB helmet designed to help reduce concussions approved

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:23 GMT

The first quarterback-specific helmet designed to help reduce concussions has been approved for use by the NFL and NFLPA, the AP has learned.The helmet, manufactured by Vicis, reduces severity of helmet-to-ground impacts, which league data says account for approximately half of quarterback concussions, including the one suffered by Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa last season when his head slammed violently against the turf during a Thursday night game against Cincinnati.“We’ve now analyzed with our engineers and with the Players Association more than a 1,000 concussions on field, we have a pretty good database of how these injuries occur,” NFL executive Jeff Miller told the AP about the helmet-to-ground impacts. “This helmet performs better in laboratory testing than any helmets we have ever seen for those sorts of impacts.”The helmet performed 7% better than the most popular helmet worn by quarterbacks last season, the league said in a memo sent to team executives on Thursday. Jason Neubaue...