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Bullying? Coercing? Hung juries are rare — so what happened last week in a San Jose courtroom?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:00 GMT

SAN JOSE – Six hours before the federal judge declared a mistrial in the sexual assault trial of San Jose State’s former head athletic trainer, she summoned the exasperated, deadlocked jurors back into the courtroom and urged them to continue deliberating in good faith.Still, she said in that Thursday morning session, if your opinion is sincerely held, don’t change your mind “based solely on pressure from other jurors.”There was pressure, alright.The dragged-out drama behind closed doors inside the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building in downtown San Jose this past week was “extremely unusual,” a national jury expert says. Less than 3% of all federal criminal trials result in hung juries and when they deadlock, jurors are usually closely split.In this San Jose case, however, the eight-woman, four-man jury was 11-1 in favor of guilt on one charge and 10-2 in favor on the remaining five.That the two holdouts in the sexual assault case were both women, and all four men on the jury were c...

5 charts and 1 map that explain how COVID-19 dramatically reshaped the Bay Area commute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:00 GMT

Here’s how the pandemic radically changed commuting for all of us.Nearly a million Bay Area workers switched to working from home. Commute times dropped by 10 minutes or more in many portions of the Bay Area. Our commuter trains are less than half as crowded as they used to be. But beware: There are signs the congestion on our freeways is creeping back, just at different times and certain days of the week when many of us do choose to head into the office.Here are six big takeaways to help explain what’s happened to the Bay Area commute.Staying home to work is here to stayThe impact from our shift to remote work has been staggering. From 2019 to 2021, the number of Bay Area residents who said they worked from home shot up more than five times, topping 1.1 million.And while updated data from the U.S. Census Bureau isn’t available yet, there’s no sign the remote work revolution ended with the pandemic.The Bay Area Council Economic Institute, an economic policy think t...

U.S. women KO’d in World Cup, lose to Sweden on PKs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:00 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia — Sweden knocked the United States out of the World Cup 5-4 on penalties after a scoreless draw at the Women’s World Cup.The longest game in tournament history ended in the seventh round when Lina Hurtig converted her penalty. U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher fruitlessly argued she had saved Hurtig’s attempt, but it was ruled over the line. The stadium played Abba’s “Dancing Queen in the stadium as the Swedes celebrated.The United States, which has a record four World Cup titles overall and was trying to win an unprecedented third consecutive tile, was eliminated in the Round of 16 for the first time in team history.The Americans’ worst finish had been third place, three times.It was the first match at this World Cup to go to extra time.(check back for more) 

Loyd scores 32, Whitcomb hits key shot and Storm defeat Mercury 97-91 despite 28 by Taurasi

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:00 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Jewell Loyd scored 17 of her 32 points in the fourth quarter and Sami Whitcomb hit a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left to lift the Seattle Storm to a 97-91 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday night.Brittney Griner had 22 points for the Mercury after sitting out the previous three games for a mental health break. Diana Taurasi had 28 points after she scored 42 on Thursday night and surpassed 10,000 in her legendary career, but it wasn’t enough against the last-place Storm. Phoenix guard Shey Peddy was hit in the head by an elbow before halftime, removed from the court on a stretcher and taken to a hospital. The Mercury said she had movement in her limbs. Seattle is now 7-20 this season with three wins coming over the Mercury. Unlike the first two matchups, won by an average of 18.5 points, this game had seven ties and 12 lead changes. Loyd had six points in an 8-0 run that put Seattle up 87-81 with 3:18 to play.A Griner three-point play made it 89-87 with 2:31 ...

Estados Unidos queda eliminado del Mundial Femenino de Fútbol tras perder en los penales ante Suecia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:00 GMT

(CNN) –– Estados Unidos le dice adiós al Mundial Femenino de Fútbol con una derrota ante Suecia que se definió en penales: 5-4.Después de 120 minutos de juego tenso y sin goles, Suecia se impuso en los cobros desde el punto penal y avanza a los cuartos de final, evitando que el dos veces campeón y defensor del título volviera a alzar la Copa del Mundo.Lina Hurtig convirtió el penal de la victoria después de que la guardameta estadounidense Alyssa Naeher apareciera para realizar la atajada inicial. Sin embargo, el sistema de detección automática de goles determinó que el balón cruzó la línea.Suecia ahora enfrentará a Japón en los cuartos de final este viernes en Eden Park en Auckland, Nueva Zelandia.El resultado de este domingo representa la eliminación más temprana en un Mundial para EE.UU. La selección llegó por lo menos a las semifinales en los ocho torneos anteriores, ganando cuatro títulos.La tanda de penalesLa sueca Nathalie Bjorn fue la primera jugadora en fallar desde el punt...

Vivek Ramaswamy’s Hindu faith is front and center in his GOP presidential campaign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:00 GMT

Vivek Ramaswamy is as comfortable talking about Bible stories as he is sharing the message of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most sacred Hindu texts.The 37-year-old biotech entrepreneur turned Republican presidential candidate has been steadily garnering support in a party dominated by conservative Christians. In many polls, he’s in third place behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and he is one of six candidates who have qualified for the first GOP presidential debate on Aug. 23.He is also only the nation’s second Hindu presidential candidate. Tulsi Gabbard, the former Hawaii congresswoman, ran as a Democrat in 2020.Ramaswamy shared 10 core beliefs as part of his campaign, with “God is real” topping the list followed by “There are two genders.” He cascaded into the limelight with his 2021 book “Woke Inc: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam,” a scathing critique of corporations that he says use social justice caus...

Crews investigating house fire in Dedham

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:00 GMT

A fire in Dedham caused significant damage to a home earlier Sunday morning, officials said.Crews responded to a two-alarm fire 111 Schiller Road around 1:40 a.m. Sunday, and no injuries were reported. Dedham Fire said that crews were still on the scene as of 9 a.m. checking for hot spots.The cause of the fire is under investigation.

NFL notes: Is Bill Belichick embracing sports science at Patriots training camp?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:00 GMT

Sprints to start certain practices.Star players coasting through others.Live goal-line periods cracking with colliding helmets and shoulder pads for the first time in two summers.Through 10 practices, Patriots training camp has been an exercise in the familiar — welcome back, Bill O’Brien — and in firsts. Most changes, particularly O’Brien’s return, have been welcome and productive, as the team’s offense springs to life again. But certain scenes have stupefied, even rankled, some ex-players; namely, how Bill Belichick could be content with his best players sitting out a combined dozen practices before the team’s first preseason game.“It’s so weird that Bill would let that happen,” said ex-Pats linebacker Rob Ninkovich of Matthew Judon’s contract “hold-in.”Under Belichick, the rule used to be if you can practice, you practice. No excuses.Now, it depends.New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick walks out onto the field ...

US loses to Sweden on penalty kicks, marks earliest Women's World Cup exit ever

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:00 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The United States played its best game of this Women's World Cup and it wasn't good enough to stop the two-time reigning champions from being eliminated from the tournament.The Americans' bid to win an unprecedented third consecutive title ended Sunday night on penalty kicks when Lina Hurtig converted and Sweden knocked the United States out of the World Cup 5-4 after a scoreless draw.It is the earliest exit in tournament history for the United States, four-time winners of the World Cup.“Just devastated. It feels like a bad dream,” said captain Alex Morgan. “The team put everything out there tonight, I feel like we dominated, but it doesn't matter. We're going home and it's the highs and lows of the sport of soccer. So, yeah, it doesn't feel great.”U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher fruitlessly argued she had saved Hurtig's attempt, but it was ruled over the line. The stadium played Abba's “Dancing Queen” in the stadium as the Swedes celebrated....

Russia mounts a massive missile and drone attack against Ukraine following its retaliation promise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:00 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Moscow unleashed a massive missile and drone barrage on western Ukraine Sunday, following through on its promise to retaliate for a Ukrainian attack on a Russian tanker.Russian and Ukrainian shelling across the country overnight killed in at least six people, officials said. Separately, Moscow’s second-largest airport briefly suspended flights early Sunday following a foiled drone attack near the Russian capital.Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 70 attack drones and missiles, including cruise missiles from aircraft over the Caspian Sea and Iranian-made, Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs. Serhiy Tyurin, deputy head of Ukraine’s Khmelnytsky region military administration, said three waves of missiles hit the Starokostiantyniv area, damaging several buildings and igniting a fire at a warehouse. The strike may have been intended for the city’s airfield, officials said.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the facilities of aircraft engine manufacturer Motor S...