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Opinion: Don’t destroy historic neighborhoods to solve housing crisis

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:10 GMT

In recent years, historic preservation has come under intense fire from state Sen. Scott Wiener and his YIMBY allies for allegedly interfering with housing production. However, the regional housing crisis can be solved without destroying historic neighborhoods.I am a San Francisco-based architectural historian and historic preservation consultant who has been active in the Bay Area for 26 years. I am a committed urbanist and a lover of open space. As a Bay Area native, I remember as a child watching the last stone fruit orchards of South San Jose being bulldozed to construct endless tracts of one-story ranch houses sequestered behind beige sound walls.Today I see the same thing happening in the outer reaches of the Bay Area and the Central Valley. I despise low-density, auto-dependent sprawl. I believe that our cities should become more “urban,” not only to preserve our farmland but also to encourage a pedestrian-oriented way of life that is common in much of the world, including a ...

Five-bedroom home in San Ramon sells for $2.3 million

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:10 GMT

2518 Craneford Way – Google Street ViewA spacious house located in the 2500 block of Craneford Way in San Ramon has new owners. The 3,148-square-foot property, built in 2002, was sold on Dec. 4, 2023. The $2,260,000 purchase price works out to $718 per square foot. This two-story home offers a roomy layout with five bedrooms and three baths. The property is equipped with central A/C. Additionally, the house includes an attached two-car garage, ensuring ample room for parking and storage.These nearby houses have also recently changed hands:A 3,147-square-foot home on the 800 block of Bandol Way in San Ramon sold in August 2022, for $1,975,000, a price per square foot of $628. The home has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Rutherglen Drive, San Ramon, in August 2022, a 4,232-square-foot home was sold for $2,450,000, a price per square foot of $579. The home has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.In July 2023, a 4,387-square-foot home on Casella Way in San Ramon sold for $2,529,000, a price per sq...

Crisp: Are we willing to accept a Putin victory in Ukraine?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:10 GMT

Ukraine surprised everyone — above all, probably, Vladimir Putin — with its determined resistance to Russia’s attack in February 2022. But now the war has ground down to a lethal stalemate. Ukraine cannot win this war of attrition on its own. Without outside help, a stalemate amounts to an eventual defeat for Ukraine.Reflecting its admiration of the Ukrainians’ courage, as well as the stakes in this conflict, the West has responded with considerable aid.According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the United States has contributed $77 billion in various combinations of military assistance, financial support and humanitarian aid. The European Union has contributed $85 billion, and its member states have made additional contributions: Germany ($20 billion), United Kingdom ($13 billion), Norway ($7 billion).But with a population base a third the size of Russia’s, Ukraine is running short of troops, as indicated by reports last week of recruitment problems. Ammunit...

Thiago Motta was a serial winner as a player. He’s making the same impact as the coach at Bologna

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:10 GMT

ROME (AP) — Wherever Thiago Motta went as a player, he won trophy after trophy after trophy.After an injury-prone but winning start at Barcelona, he won a treble at Inter Milan and followed with a big haul of domestic titles at Paris Saint-Germain.Praised for his versatility and dedication in midfield, Motta brings the same intensity to his coaching career and his impact this season at Bologna has been beyond expectations.A perennial mid-table finisher, Bologna is up to fourth in Serie A and in position to qualify for the Champions League.Motta defeated his mentor from his days at Inter when Bologna beat Jose Mourinho’s Roma last weekend. Then on Wednesday, Bologna produced a 2-1 extra-time win over two-time defending champion Inter in the Italian Cup round of 16.Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee was the catalyst for the comeback victory at the San Siro, first providing a flying backheel assist for Sam Beukema in the 112th minute and then using a nutmeg to get by defender Francesco...

Luton captain Lockyer has defibrillator fitted. Out of hospital after cardiac arrest

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:10 GMT

LUTON, England (AP) — Luton captain Tom Lockyer has had a defibrillator fitted following his on-field cardiac arrest and left the hospital to rehabilitate at home, the club said on Thursday.Lockyer collapsed in the second half of Luton’s match at Bournemouth in the English Premier League on Saturday. The game was abandoned and will be replayed.It was the second time Lockyer collapsed during a match. The other time was in May during the second-tier Championship playoff final and that was because he suffered atrial fibrillation.Luton said the issue Lockyer experienced on Saturday was different.Lockyer underwent “a successful procedure that took place on Tuesday whereby Tom had an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) device fitted to prevent a repeat of Saturday’s incident,” Luton said.“The club, Tom and the Lockyer family would like to take this opportunity to repeat our collective heartfelt thanks to all at Bournemouth, their supporters, club officials and especially their me...

Xabi Alonso taking Bayer Leverkusen to unprecedented heights in Bundesliga

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:10 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Xabi Alonso has transformed Bayer Leverkusen from a relegation candidate to unbeaten Bundesliga leader in just over a year since taking over.Alonso’s team won 22 of its 35 games in the Bundesliga in 2023 — a club record within a calendar year.Highly regarded as a classy midfielder for Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Sociedad, Alonso was untested as a coach at a major club until Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes entrusted him with the team in October last year.Leverkusen was second from bottom in the Bundesliga with just five points from its opening eight games, already knocked out in the first round of the German Cup, and struggling in the Champions League.After starting with a 4-0 rout of Schalke, Alonso had to wait for his ideas to take hold as the team failed to win any of its next six games. But then it clicked into gear with a 5-0 rout of then-leader Union Berlin In November 2022. It was the result Alonso needed to restore confidence a...

Live updates | UN aid resolution and diplomatic efforts could yield some relief for Gaza

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:10 GMT

The U.N. Security Council has a long-delayed vote scheduled for Thursday on a new resolution about desperately needed aid to Gaza, where the Israel-Hamas war has created a dire humanitarian crisis.Tens of thousands of people are crammed into shelters and tent camps amid shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies. Israel’s foreign minister traveled to Cyprus to discuss the possibility of establishing a maritime corridor that would allow the delivery of large amounts of humanitarian aid.At least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded Wednesday after Israel bombarded the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City, according to a senior official in the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.The Israeli military said its troops located “ a vast tunnel network ” under Gaza City that included command and control positions, meeting rooms and hideout apartments for the most senior Hamas leaders.Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according ...

El papa Francisco pide al personal del Vaticano evitar “posiciones ideológicas rígidas”

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:10 GMT

El papa Francisco llamó el jueves a la burocracia del Vaticano a evitar “posiciones ideológicas rígidas” que le impidan entender la realidad de hoy, días después de que formalmente le permitió a los sacerdotes bendecir a parejas del mismo sexo.Francisco usó su saludo navideño anual a la jerarquía de la Santa Sede para animar a los cardenales, obispos y laicos que administran al Vaticano a que se escuchen entre sí y escuchen a otros, a fin de que evolucionen y presten un servicio verdadero a la Iglesia Católica.En la Sala de Bendiciones, Francisco le dijo que es importante avanzar y crecer en su comprensión de la verdad. Aferrarse temerosamente a las normas podría dar el sentimiento de estar evadiendo problemas, pero solo termina vulnerando el servicio que la Curia Vaticana está llamada a darle a la Iglesia, declaró.“Sigamos alertas en contra de las posiciones ideológicas rígidas que con frecuencia, bajo la ilusión de buenas intenciones, nos separan de la realidad y nos impiden avanz...

Turkish central bank raises interest rate 42.5% to combat high inflation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:10 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank hiked its key interest rate by 2.5 percentage points on Thursday as part of its efforts to combat high inflation that has left many households struggling to afford rent and essential items.The bank’s Monetary Policy Committee raised its benchmark rate to 42.5%, delivering its seventh interest rate hike in a row to tame inflation, which rose to 61.98% last month.But the bank signaled that the rate hikes — which took borrowing costs from 8.5% to the current 42.5% — could soon end.“The committee anticipates to complete the tightening cycle as soon as possible,” it said. “The monetary tightness will be maintained as long as needed to ensure sustained price stability.”The series of rate hikes came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — a longtime proponent of an unorthodox policy of cutting rates to fight inflation — reversed course and appointed a new economic team following his reelection in May.The team includes former Merrill Lynch ba...

Xi Jinping elogia la cooperación con Rusia mientras el comercio supera el objetivo de 200 mil millones de dólares

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:10 GMT

(CNN) — China y Rusia concluyeron un excelente año de cooperación con una reunión anual de fin de año en la que ambos prometieron profundizar los lazos en una variedad de temas a medida que el comercio récord entre ellos superó un objetivo simbólico.El comercio bilateral entre China y Rusia superó los 200.000 millones de dólares en los primeros 11 meses del año, dijo el líder chino Xi Jinping en una reunión con el primer ministro Mikhail Mishustin este miércoles, marcando el logro antes de lo previsto de un objetivo fijado por Xi y su homólogo ruso Vladimir Putin en 2019.Luego, los dos líderes se comprometieron a alcanzar la marca de los 200 mil millones de dólares para 2024. El comercio entre sus países siguió expandiéndose a raíz de la invasión de Ucrania por parte del Kremlin en 2022, creciendo aproximadamente un 30% en 2022 hasta alcanzar un récord de 190 mil millones de dólares.Las últimas cifras comerciales muestran una “fuerte resiliencia y amplias perspectivas” de coop...