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He’s 14, just graduated Santa Clara University and about to join SpaceX

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

Like thousands of 14-year-olds, Kairan Quazi graduates this month — but not from middle school. He’ll be getting his bachelor’s degree at Santa Clara University as the youngest graduate in the institution’s history, and then heading to SpaceX to become a software engineer.“I’m really excited for this new chapter of my life,” said Kairan, who will be moving from Pleasanton to Washington state with his mom, Jullia, in July to join SpaceX’s Starlink team.The clues were there from the start that Kairan (pronounced Ky-ren) was no ordinary kid.Just a few months after her boy’s birth, Jullia began noticing Kairan’s “intense” temperament: if she was reading to him and stopped, for example, Kairan would throw a tantrum that could only be quieted by listening to NPR. By age 2, he was speaking in full sentences, and his doctors realized his intellectual and emotional intelligence were off the charts.They recommended he start preschool immediately. But on his first day —...

Barabak: How California turned blue and changed American politics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

Bill Clinton was busy filling Cabinet positions and shaping his economic agenda when a memo landed from a team of political advisors. Although Clinton was still more than a month away from becoming president, the topic was his reelection nearly four years off.The document outlined a strategy considered vital to Clinton’s hopes for a second term: Lock down California and its generous share of electoral votes so his campaign could “concentrate its energy on other, more tightly contested, states.”In 1992, Arkansas’ five-term governor became the first Democratic presidential candidate in nearly three decades to carry California, the political birthplace of Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Few, if any, considered Clinton’s victory in California the start of a political realignment; he won just 46% of the vote.For much of its history, the West was Republican ground. Today, it’s a bastion of Democratic support, a shift that has transformed presidential politics nationwide.But his victor...

No matter who is at quarterback, 49ers expect their top weapons to be even better in 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

SANTA CLARA — There are three quarterbacks participating in 49ers minicamp and another on the sidelines, but it doesn’t seem to matter who is throwing the ball when Brandon Aiyuk is on the field.“I like watching Brandon Aiyuk dissect every single corner he goes against,” tight end George Kittle marveled after minicamp on Tuesday. “That’s really fun.”Whether it’s Brock Purdy, Trey Lance, Sam Darnold or even Brandon Allen under center for the 49ers this year, they’re going to have four elite weapons at their disposal — Aiyuk, Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey — that should give the offense a chance to reach 6,000 yards for the third straight season.They’re coming off back-to-back seasons with at least 6,000 yards for the first time since the early ‘90s, when Steve Young was piloting the offense.Aiyuk surpassed the 1,000-yard threshold with 1,015 yards on 78 receptions and eight touchdowns last year, but the 25-year-old thinks he’ll be even better in his fo...

Burlington signs lease for big San Jose store site in retail expansion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

SAN JOSE — Burlington Coat Factory has signed a lease to occupy a big store site in San Jose, taking space in a building that would also accommodate a Sprouts Farmers Market, according to public documents.The two retailers would each occupy big chunks of a San Jose building at 375 North Capitol Avenue that totals 99,500 square feet, public records and a marketing brochure show.The expansion efforts by the merchants offer a hopeful counterpoint to the dismal drumbeat of cutbacks by corporations and retailers in parts of the Bay Area, especially San Francisco.Burlington Coat Factory has leased about 30,300 square feet in a section of that building, the real estate records on file with Santa Clara County officials show. A memorandum of the signed lease was filed with the county Recorder’s Office this month.Sprouts Farmers Market is eyeing about 24,000 square feet in the same building in a space that would be next to the Burlington site.The rental deal involving Sprouts was ...

San Jose: Pedestrian killed in overnight collision was a minor, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

SAN JOSE — A pedestrian was killed in an overnight collision in San Jose, and police say the victim was a minor.Reported at 12:56 a.m. on Wednesday, the crash happened on the residential 2400 block of Rinconada Drive. Police say the collision was between a vehicle and a pedestrian.Units are currently in the 2400 block of Rinconada Dr responding to a fatal collision involving a vehicle and a juvenile pedestrian. TOC: 12:56 AM pic.twitter.com/Eko4pDFVab— San José Police Media Relations (@SJPD_PIO) June 7, 2023No other details were immediately made available.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Bay Area sex offender sentenced for deadly crash Crashes and Disasters | Motorcyclist dead after losing control on rural Brentwood road Crashes and Disasters | Road rage blamed in crash that killed couple driving with Porsche club Crashes and Disasters | Pedestrian’s death in Vallejo investigated as homicide Crashes a...

Opinion: SEC rule changes would harm startups, sabotage innovation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

In the name of greater transparency, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking to rewrite some of the basic rules that have long governed the world-class venture capital market in the United States. If the new regulations take effect, however, the result won’t be greater transparency, but increased costs that will lead to undesirable concentration in the VC industry and a steep contraction in capital for startups.To top it off, the SEC move would deal a blow to the slow but measurable progress the VC industry has made in recent years to open its ranks to woefully underrepresented demographic groups. For the sake of maintaining innovation as the engine of U.S. economic growth, SEC Chair Gary Gensler must call off this ill-advised rulemaking.VC firms generally raise their capital from highly sophisticated investors — pension funds, university endowments, foundations and family offices. These investors (i.e., limited partners) often commit to providing funding...

Air India plane flying to San Francisco lands in Russia's Siberia after engine problem

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — An Air India plane flying from New Delhi to San Francisco landed in Russia after it developed an engine problem, officials said on Wednesday.The plane, a Boeing 777 carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew members, landed safely at Russia’s Magadan airport in Siberia in the country’s far east on Tuesday, Air India said in a statement.The flight "developed a technical issue with one of its engines,” the statement said, adding that the aircraft was undergoing safety checks and the passengers were being provided support on the ground.Vedant Patel, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said that American citizens were likely on the flight but could not immediately confirm how many. He said his understanding was that Air India would be sending a replacement aircraft to Russia so the passengers could continue their travel to the U.S."We are continuing to monitor the situation,” Patel said.Girvaan Kaahma, 16, was traveling on the flight with his uncle and brother. He said they are...

UPDATE: Special session ends as budget bill passes in Nevada Legislature

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

UPDATE: The Nevada Legislature completed a special session in less than the four hours ordered by Gov. Joe Lombardo, approving Assembly Bill 1 to finish the state budget Tuesday night. One Republican — Scott Hammond — joined Democrats in backing the bill in the Senate, and three Republicans supported the bill in the Assembly — P.K. O’Neill, Danielle Gallant and Rich DeLong. Republicans in the Senate narrowly missed blocking passage again, but Hammond’s vote provided the 14-7 margin needed (two-thirds majority) to pass the bill and send it to Lombardo.Shortly after the Legislature ended, Lombardo ordered a second special session to convene at 10 a.m. Wednesday to consider a bill providing funds for the construction of the A’s stadium on the Las Vegas Strip. Original story appears below.LAS VEGAS (KLAS) -- The budget ended up as the sticking point as lawmakers adjourned Tuesday morning -- past their legal deadline -- without a complete spending plan delivered to Gov. Joe Lom...

Md. Transportation Authority moves ahead with bike access on Nice-Middleton Bridge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.Maryland Transportation officials are moving forward with a plan for cyclists to cross the new Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas ‘Mac’ Middleton Bridge.Limited access to the bridge, similar to that of the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge, left cycling advocates frustrated. Eric Brenner, past chair of the Maryland Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee, expressed disappointment in the final plan. He said few good options remained after state transportation officials under then-Gov. Larry Hogan (R) failed to build a new Potomac River crossing that incorporated bike and pedestrian access.“The Nice Bridge stuff was a can’t-win situation the way it was set up,” Brenner said.“I’m reluctant to even beat them up too much for what they decided to do,” he added, speaking of the Department of Transportation under Hogan’s successor Go...

More than 1,400 migrants are rescued from overcrowded boats off southern Italy by coast guard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

ROME (AP) — More than 1,400 migrants have been rescued from overcrowded vessels, including a sailboat, in four separate operations in the Mediterranean Sea off southern Italy, the Italian coast guard said Wednesday.There were 47 migrants, including two children in immediate need of medical care, aboard the sailboat in distress off the region of Calabria, in the “toe” of the Italian peninsula, a coast guard statement said. They were rescued by a coast guard motorboat early Tuesday.The statement said the rescues began late Monday night and ended in the early hours of Wednesday in the Ionian Sea off Calabria’s east coast. One coast guard vessel took on around 590 migrants from aboard a fishing boat, and then later brought on around 650 migrants from another fishing boat, the statement said.A coast guard motorboat and an Italian border police ship came to the assistance of a fourth vessel, with 130 migrants aboard.Authorities didn’t immediately give details on the nationalit...