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Realtors found liable for $1.8 billion in damages in conspiracy to keep commissions high

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

By Elisabeth Buchwald | CNNWashington, DC  — A Missouri jury on Tuesday found the National Association of Realtors, a real estate industry trade group, and some residential brokerages liable for nearly $1.8 billion in damages after determining they conspired to keep commissions for home sales artificially high.The lawsuit covered home sales that took place between April 2015 to June 2022.“We view it as a tremendous day of accountability for these companies,” Michael Ketchmark, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told CNN.Despite the verdict, the matter is still far from being resolved.“This matter is not close to being final. We will appeal the liability finding because we stand by the fact that NAR rules serve the best interests of consumers, support market-driven pricing and advance business competition,” NAR president Tracy Kasper said in a statement after the verdict was announced.However, she said NAR “can’t speak to the specifics” to its basis of appeal until it is filed. “I...

Prep roundup: Valley Christian wins individual, team CCS girls golf championship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

Girls golfCCS CHAMPIONSHIPSValley Christian was the Central Coast Section’s best in girls golf on Tuesday, individually and as a team.Varsha Ramachandran shot 3-under 69 at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch to win the section’s individual championship by a stroke over her Valley Christian teammate, Joyce Zhang, and a duo from Stevenson, Lucinda Wu and Nicole Iniakov.Leland’s Lexi Lowe and Harker’s Allison Yang each shot 72.Valley Christian placed first in the team standings, finishing at 385. Stevenson (393) was second and Harker (407) took third.The top three teams and four individuals not on a qualifying team move on to the NorCal regionals on Monday at Berkeley Country Club.Lowe, Saratoga’s Millie Wang (73), Los Altos’ Camille Thai (73) and Pioneer’s Katelyn Chang (75) advanced individually.NCS CHAMPIONSHIPSJames Logan’s Alyssa Lim shot 1-under 70 on Monday at Tilden Park Golf Club in Berkeley to win the North Coast Section Division I individu...

Alameda prevails in long battle over property tax to fund schools–but more trouble could be ahead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

When the state Supreme Court let stand last week a controversial measure that allows Alameda Unified School District to fund employee salaries through a property tax, Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi said he felt extremely relieved. The years-long legal battle had consumed his time, threatened the district’s ability to retain talent, and put a full 20% of the district’s funding at stake.“There were doomsday scenarios we didn’t want to consider,” Scuderi said. “It created a lot of anxiety.”Related ArticlesEducation | Police accuse man of committing lewd acts in Marin County middle school bathroom Education | In California, students with unstable home environments most likely to be sent home from school, new study shows Education | A shortage of teachers for computer science classes puts California near the bottom of a national instruction ranking Education | Have Bay Area students recovered from pandemic learning losses? Here&...

Photos: Bay Area’s colorful Día de los Muertos celebrations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

Día de los Muertos celebrations around the Bay Area this past week took time to remember and honor deceased loved ones.The La Ofrenda Día de los Muertos and wellness fair in Gilroy saw thousands of attendees in its inaugural run Saturday; Oakland’s 28th annual Día de los Muertos Festival drew a huge crowd to Fruitvale district on Sunday.Related ArticlesLocal News | Photos: A furry, tail wagging Halloween parade welcomes travelers at San Jose Mineta International Airport Local News | Day of the Dead: A look at mortality in the U.S. Local News | Group seeks to clear names in witchcraft injustice Local News | How ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ went from cult classic to beloved Disney property Local News | Here are tips to keep Halloween fun and safe: Roadshow The 29th annual Día De Los Muertos Celebration took place at the Oakland Museum of California last week, but was moved indoors because of rainy w...

‘Shen smelled blood in the water’: Santa Clara tech firm claims Chinese partners stole secrets, embezzled millions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

A Santa Clara medical technology company claims in a newly filed lawsuit that its joint-venture partner in China looted its coffers and stole its trade secrets for use in a new company.Lumenous Device Technologies, which makes products for medical stent manufacturers, set up the joint-venture company Jiangyin Peier Technology more than 20 years ago to serve customers in Asia and the Middle East, according to its lawsuit against the new company Jiangyin Zhongpei Technology and four of that firm’s executives.Jiangyin Peier flourished, and Lumenous re-invested the profits to “build and grow the company,” the lawsuit said.But a bureaucratic problem arose, the lawsuit claims. Although Lumenous owned a majority stake in Jiangyin Peier, a “registration defect” arose to complicate the ownership picture just as Jiangyin Peier was about to go public in the stock market.The ensuing battle over the company would see Lumenous founder and co-owner Todd Dickson flying...

Dangerous situation in Sunnyvale has temporary fix with permanent one ahead: Roadshow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

Q: There is no overhead signal going northbound on Fair Oaks Avenue at Weddell Drive in Sunnyvale. There is only one to the side. Drivers think there is no signal. There were recently two serious accidents within 48 hours there. The Sunnyvale city council said this is Caltrans’ jurisdiction, but nothing has been done, despite many appeals to the city council. There used to be an overhead light, but it was not time-synced to the light at the on- and off-ramp to Highway 101. That confused drivers. Lights need to be red or green at the same time, but removing one has set us up for catastrophic consequences and potential deaths. Something needs to be done.Kathy WaddellA: I forwarded your message to Caltrans for their response about this situation. They said that Sunnyvale Public Works recently had a water main break near the traffic signal at that intersection, and that caused the signal infrastructure to sink in. City crews removed the traffic signal pole without Caltrans’ ...

Trespassing man exposed himself to girls in North Bay middle school restroom: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

(KRON) -- A 33-year-old man was arrested after trespassing at Mill Valley Middle School and entering the girl’s restroom on Oct. 30, according to the Mill Valley Police Department. There, police said he blocked the door behind him, exposed his genitalia, and masturbated in the presence of students.At 4:30 p.m., Mill Valley police responded to a report of a person loitering at the middle school located at 425 Sycamore Avenue. At that time, authorities said they learned that the suspect, identified as Derrell Bland, had entered the female restroom and talked to students inside. Once police located Bland, he was cited for trespassing, removed from the area and released.It was later Monday evening that concerned parents contacted Mill Valley PD about the incident and provided more details about what had allegedly happened in the restroom that day, including Bland masturbating in front of students, the police department said. Investigators said that when the suspect blocked the door, the...

Tyreek Hill and A.J. Brown are setting their sights on the NFL receiving record

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

The way Tyreek Hill and A.J. Brown are playing, the NFL’s single-season receiving record could be in serious jeopardy.With both receivers off to historic starts and the addition of the 17th game to the schedule, Calvin Johnson’s record of 1,964 yards receiving set in 2012 is in danger of being broken.Hill has 1,104 yards receiving for the Miami Dolphins, becoming the first player in 52 years to reach the 1,000-yard mark in the first eight games of the season. The only other players to reach 1,000 yards receiving in the first eight games are Charley Hennigan (1,122 in 1961), Elroy Hirsch (1,058 in 1951) and Don Hutson (1,032 in 1942).Hill would be be on pace to break Johnson’s record even without the 17th game as he is averaging 126.8 yards per game. He needs to average 106 yards the rest of the way to break Johnson’s mark.Brown is slightly behind that pace with 939 yards for the Philadelphia Eagles, but he is closing fast. He had eight catches for 130 yards and two...

9-year-old Florida girl dies when palm tree falls on her

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

LAKE WORTH BEACH, Florida (WESH) — A 9-year-old girl has died after officials say she was crushed by a falling palm tree.According to WPBF, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reports the girl and her friends were playing on a strap between two large palm trees at the Smith Farm neighborhood in Lake Worth.One of the trees fell, collapsing on the girl and injuring a boy she was playing with.The girl was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.Deputies are still conducting a death investigation, but the incident appears to be accidental, according to the sheriff’s office.

US and China join global leaders to lay out need for AI rulemaking

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

BLETCHLEY PARK, England — The United States and China joined global leaders to sign a 27-country agreement on the risk of AI that launched a two-day AI Safety Summit.In a major diplomatic coup for the British hosts, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo took the stage on Wednesday morning alongside Wu Zhaohui, China’s vice minister of science, at the summit at Bletchley Park — a former military installation north of London where British engineers used early forms of computers to break German codes during World War II.The site — symbolic of what London believes is a similar global need to rein in the potential harms of artificial technology — forms the backdrop for efforts by politicians, tech executives and academics to find new ways to police a technology evolving faster than almost all governments can respond to it.This week alone, the U.S. government and G7 group of leading Western democracies published separate efforts to regulate artificial intelligence in the form of a W...