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Airbnb sues Boulder over taxation of guest “service fee”

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:10:18 GMT

Airbnb wants Boulder tax collectors to stay away from the service fee.The San Francisco-based short-term rental marketplace sued the city on Thursday, arguing that the fee — which Airbnb charges to both guests and hosts — should not have been taxed by the city in recent years.The lawsuit filed in Boulder District Court essentially asks a judge to overturn a Boulder Municipal Court ruling last month, which found that the money collected from the fee is taxable. The municipal court ordered Airbnb to pay $415,000 — with about $150,000 of that in interest and penalties — for unpaid taxes on fees collected in 2018 and 2019.A spokesperson for Boulder declined to comment.As part of a deal between Airbnb and the city reached in late 2016 — when the short-term rental industry was still nascent — Airbnb agreed to collect taxes on transactions made through its site and pass that money along to the city.Airbnb isn’t disputing that taxes are owed on the “nightly rental charge,”...

Power outage forces critical condition patients from Los Angeles hospital

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:10:18 GMT

Hundreds of patients, including some in critical condition, had to be moved when the power went out in a tower at White Memorial Hospital in Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles Monday night.The outage was reported shortly after 11 p.m. at the hospital located in the 1700 block of East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue.The Specialty Care Center was affected by the power outage, according to an alert from the Los Angeles Fire Department. Around 200 non-critical patients were moved to another building that was not impacted by the outage.Officials say 17 critical condition patients required transportation by ambulance to other hospitals and more were being prepared for transport. “At the point of the power outage their main power and emergency power was completely off, completely out,” Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Cody Weireter said. Weireter said the cause of the power outage was still under investigation. The incident seemed to be stabilizing as of 5 a.m. Tuesday but several ambu...

San Francisco Archdiocese files bankruptcy amid child sexual abuse lawsuits

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:10:18 GMT

The Archdiocese of San Francisco — which serves about 440,000 Catholics in the counties of San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo — filed for bankruptcy Monday, saying the filing is necessary to manage more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials.The Chapter 11 protection filing will stop all legal actions against the archdiocese and thus allow it to develop a settlement plan with abuse survivors, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement.“The unfortunate reality is that the Archdiocese has neither the financial means nor the practical ability to litigate all of these abuse claims individually, and therefore, after much consideration, concluded that the bankruptcy process was the best solution for providing fair and equitable compensation to the innocent survivors who have been harmed,” Cordileone said.The San Francisco Archdiocese is the third Bay Area diocese to file for bankruptcy after facing hundreds of lawsuits brought under a California law app...

Deebo Samuel brings a ‘little more’ speed, power, leadership to 49ers this season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:10:18 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Watching Brock Purdy fire passes at Deebo Samuel this August looks so natural and so encouraging for the 49ers’ offense.They hooked up twice to start Saturday’s preseason win over the Broncos, and they produced seven completions in Monday’s practice.It’s not as if the Purdy-to-Samuel connection was invisible last season, while Purdy ripped off eight wins before his NFC Championship Game injury. Samuel had six catches for 133 yards and a touchdown in a playoff-opening win over Seattle.But go back to Purdy’s first start, when he outdueled Tom Brady to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Samuel was carted off that game with knee and ankle injuries that kept him out for the next three weeks.Samuel’s offseason overhaul of his body has him primed for more targets, thanks to what he calls “a little more to my step, and a little more to my speed, so it’s a little more power.”A year ago, Purdy wasn’t exactly on Samuel’s radar, at least not u...

Kurtenbach: Kyle Harrison’s SF Giants call-up means the clock is ticking on Farhan Zaidi

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:10:18 GMT

Welcome to the show, Kyle Harrison.Now all you have to do is save the Giants’ season.Ok, ok, that might be overstating things a bit. Still, the combination of expectations surrounding the Giants’ top prospect and the desperation of a team that has lost five straight series puts the 22-year-old left-handed pitcher right into the fire when he makes his Major League debut on Tuesday in Philadelphia.No matter how it goes for the most anticipated pitcher call-up since Madison Bumgarner, the fact is that his entrance to the big leagues signals a shift for the Giants’ organization.It took much longer than expected, but welcome to Phase 2 of the Farhan Zaidi administration: the no-excuses era.The early days of Zaidi’s reign as president of baseball operations were about rebuilding a depleted farm system. He did that, and in some of the lean years since he took over — 2019, 2020, 2022 — those prospects provided hope to the Giants’ fan base.Who cares that the Gia...

Skelton: Newsom-DeSantis debate would be good for voters and governors

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:10:18 GMT

Never mind the Republican presidential debate Wednesday. The more fascinating faceoff will likely be between the haggling governors of California and Florida in November.If it actually occurs, that is. The two are still squabbling over debate rules. But I figure they’ll settle their relatively minor differences and go at it on national television, entertaining millions.There’s too much potential benefit for both California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis for them to pass up this golden opportunity to gain national attention.A Newsom insider told me there’ll absolutely be a debate because both governors desire one. It was first proposed by Newsom last year and DeSantis has accepted. Fox TV host Sean Hannity would moderate.“It’ll be the most interesting debate in the next two years because it’ll be about the future,” the Newsom confidant said.Candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, including DeSantis, will debate Wednesday in Milwau...

SJSU eyes prominent downtown San Jose hotel tower for student housing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:10:18 GMT

SAN JOSE — San Jose State University is engaged in talks to enable the school to buy a prominent downtown San Jose hotel tower that the college could convert to student housing.The university is eyeing the purchase of the southern tower of the Signia Hilton San Jose, according to several sources with informed knowledge of the potential real estate deal.The south building of the lodging complex is part of the two-tower hotel at 170 South Market Street that for decades operated as the Fairmont San Jose, an 805-room hotel that is one of the city’s downtown icons.Sam Hirbod, the principal executive of the group that owns the Signia Hilton in downtown San Jose, had confirmed in April of this year that discussions were underway with a potential buyer for the southern tower.The negotiations would leave Hirbod’s group with ownership of the 541-room northern tower, which would remain a conventional hotel, Hirbod said in April.SJSU would buy the 264-unit southern tower from ...

Your Impact in Action: Changing Lives with LifeMoves

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:10:18 GMT

Hello, incredible donors and readers! As busy as things get at the end of summer, we’re excited to share a heartwarming update on the impact of your generous gifts to LifeMoves through the Mercury News Wish Book. Your contributions have made a profound difference in the lives of individuals, veterans, and families facing homelessness. Let’s dive into the inspiring stories of hope and resilience made possible by your support.Empowering Families at Haven Family HouseThanks to your generosity, LifeMoves has been able to support 23 families, including nine veterans as the head of households, at the Haven Family House in Menlo Park. From October 2022 to March 2023, LifeMoves provided case management support to 32 households at Haven Family House. Among them, 15 were veterans leading their families towards stability. During this period, 61 children and 58 adults received the crucial assistance they needed.Danny and Jen’s Journey to SobrietyYour support has not only provi...

Person struck and killed by train in Belmont

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:10:18 GMT

(KRON) -- One person was hit and killed by a train in Belmont Monday night, according to Caltrain.The crash occurred around 11 p.m. when a northbound train struck the person as it approached the station. Emergency crews arrived at the scene around 11:35 p.m. and the person was pronounced dead. Missing Netflix employee was last seen in SF, police say Caltrain said 13 passengers were on board at the time of the collision and were moved to the platform area shortly after. Service was stopped in the area following the incident. No other injuries were reported.

A team of Kenyan officials is looking at how to help Haiti fight rampant gang violence

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:10:18 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A team of Kenyan officials is in Haiti to explore how best to help the troubled Caribbean nation fight the scourge of gang violence, following up on Nairobi’s offer to lead a multinational force in the task.The force is meant to assist Haiti’s understaffed and under-resourced police department, with only about 10,000 officers for the nation’s more than 11 million people.Earlier this month, the United States said it would introduce a U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize Kenya to lead a multinational police force and provide 1,000 officers. No timetable for the resolution has been given.The first meeting between Haitian officials and the 10-member Kenyan team took place on Monday, according to a government stated issued late that night.“We are here to assess the needs of the National Police of Haiti, better understand the situation and do our best to help the Haitian people,” said George Orina, with Kenya’s ministry of foreign ...