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Neurosurgeon investigating patient's mystery symptoms plucks a worm from woman's brain in Australia

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A neurosurgeon investigating a woman’s mystery symptoms in an Australian hospital says she plucked a wriggling worm from the patient’s brain.Surgeon Hari Priya Bandi was performing a biopsy through a hole in the 64-year-old patient’s skull at Canberra Hospital last year when she used forceps to pull out the parasite, which measured 8 centimeters, or 3 inches."I just thought: ‘What is that? It doesn’t make any sense. But it’s alive and moving,’” Bandi was quoted Tuesday in The Canberra Times newspaper.“It continued to move with vigor. We all felt a bit sick,” Bandi added of her operating team.The creature was the larva of an Australian native roundworm not previously known to be a human parasite, named Ophidascaris robertsi. The worms are commonly found in carpet pythons.Bandi and Canberra infectious diseases physician Sanjaya Senanayake are authors of an article about the extraordinary medical case published in the latest edition of the journal Emerging In...

2 drinks a week? U.S. could tighten alcohol guidelines, national director says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

(WJW) — Some hard news for those who like to imbibe adult beverages from time to time — the United States may soon change its alcohol guidelines. Current U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines, which have been in place since the 1990s, stipulate that men should stick to no more than two alcoholic beverages a day, while women should cut themselves off after one drink.But Dr. George Koob, the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, recently told the Daily Mail the U.S. could follow a recent move by Canada. The country recently adjusted its recommendations, suggesting people limit themselves to two alcoholic drinks in a week's time (down from the previous 15 weekly drinks for men and 10 for women) in order to reduce health risks associated with drinking. Map: These counties are home to the most excessive drinkers, study finds Koob, who admitted to having a couple of glasses of wine a week, said that when the U.S.'s alcohol consumption guide...

Opinion: Adding hydrogen energy to California gas systems too risky

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

From major blockbusters like the movie “Glass Onion” to actual hydrogen blending projects being proposed in several parts of California, hydrogen is on everyone’s minds.Hydrogen is touted as a panacea for meeting increasing energy demand and fixing the climate crisis. However, a hydrogen economy would involve serious risks, especially when transporting hydrogen through pipelines in close proximity to people. And it may not actually help improve the climate crisis it’s been tapped to solve.The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act set aside $9.5 billion for clean hydrogen, and the Inflation Reduction Act signed last year provided additional beneficial policies and incentives for the U.S. hydrogen industry. Pressure to replace or blend natural gas with hydrogen is being felt in many states, however it seems California may be feeling it the most.Over the last few years, utilities in California have proposed numerous projects to move hydrogen through different types of pipelines f...

Kurtenbach: Ohtani, Bumgarner, Lincecum — after Kyle Harrison’s incredible San Francisco debut, no comparison is too lofty

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Kyle Harrison sure knows how to make a first impression.There was serious hype around the Giants rookie’s home debut Monday, but he exceeded even the most optimistic expectations.The 22-year-old lefty starter’s 11-strikeout, 6.1-inning performance will be remembered for a lifetime. It showed that the future is bright — 50 thousand watts — for the East Bay kid and his hometown team.In the here and now, Harrison delivered the kind of performance that the vast majority of Major League players can’t replicate.No, what Harrison did on Monday is the realm of baseball’s best.And if that doesn’t serve as a defibrillator to a Giants’ team that came into Monday flatlining (having lost seven straight series), then nothing will revive this squad.Harrison was a force of nature — the kind that doesn’t come around often — on Monday.Related ArticlesSan Francisco Giants | Giants rookie Kyle Harrison strikes out 11 in electric home ...

Single-family house sells in San Ramon for $1.7 million

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

A 2,271-square-foot house built in 1979 has changed hands. The spacious property located in the 2300 block of Barbados Drive in San Ramon was sold on Aug. 15, 2023. The $1,715,000 purchase price works out to $755 per square foot. This single-story house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The home’s outer structure has wood shake roofing / shingles. Inside, a fireplace adds character to the home. In addition, the house features an attached two-car garage.Additional houses that have recently changed hands close by include:A 1,878-square-foot home on the 100 block of Samoa Court in San Ramon sold in July 2023, for $1,626,000, a price per square foot of $866. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On Suva Court, San Ramon, in October 2022, a 2,362-square-foot home was sold for $2,150,000, a price per square foot of $910. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In May 2023, a 2,000-square-foot home on East Lakeshore Drive in San Ramon sold for $1,750,000, a price per square foo...

Woman allegedly steals $1,200 in goods, tells Northern California police they can’t arrest her. Officers arrest her anyways

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

CHICO — The Chico Police Department arrested a 50-year-old Oroville resident Monday with what officers say was about $1,200 of merchandise even though she allegedly told officers she couldn’t be arrested because of a new shoplifting law.According to a press release issued Monday by the department, reports from Target’s loss prevention team claimed the suspect was seen stealing a cart full of items and loading them into her vehicle. Allegedly, she returned to fill up a second cart afterward but was stopped by police.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Robber hits bank on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue Crime and Public Safety | Monterey County track star runs down a bike-riding thief Crime and Public Safety | 2 suspects in $100,000 California jewelry store smash-and-grab arrested after police pursuit Crime and Public Safety | DNA links killing of Maryland hiker to California home invasion Crime and Public Safety | ...

Multiple wildfires continue to burn in Northern California

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

Many of the lightning-caused fires in Northern California have been burning for two weeks now, prompting evacuations. Thousands of firefighters are working on suppression efforts across the region, with resources spread over dozens of wildfires.Smith River ComplexThe Smith River Complex in Del Norte County and southern Oregon is now 6% contained, at over 70,000 acres. Adverse weather patterns are expected for Wednesday and Thursday this week, according to a Monday USFS release on the complex. Crews are working to contain as much as possible before it sets in.RELATED: Map: Smith River wildfire at edge of Northern California town“The fires are burning in extremely rugged terrain with limited access. A year of below average rainfall has the vegetation unseasonably dry, causing a high resistance to control. Despite these difficult conditions, ground and air resources have been engaged in full suppression efforts,” the Inciweb overview notes. 2,661 personnel are reportedly working on thi...

Homophobia alleged at Northern California chili cook-off 

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

A local company has alleged a fellow business owner at the chili cook-off at the Humboldt County Fair barraged their employees with a stream of derogatory remarks about gay people and ran into their items with a vehicle later in the day.The comments, which allegedly started right from the onset of the event and progressively got worse throughout the rest of the day, included ”Oh, that’s so gay. You should be over there. With the F-ggy bottoms boys,” said Thomas Nicholson Stratton, co-owner of Foggy Bottoms Boys, noting the comments were loud enough for others to hear.Stratton noted that the comments were not directed at a particular employee or one of the Cal Poly Humboldt interns working at the cookoff but against the business in general. The Foggy Bottoms Boys is a farm owned by Thomas and his husband Cody Nicholson Stratton.“As I was going to get our vehicle to pack up our items, we had that person that was doing hateful comments run over some of our ingredients and then back ove...

Cop fired for his role in the killing of Sean Monterrosa will be reinstated by Vallejo Police

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

Former officer Jarrett Tonn is being reinstated to the Vallejo Police Department nearly a year after being fired for his role in the killing of Sean Monterrosa in June of 2020, says the Monterrosa family attorney. The reinstatement comes after the firing was overturned on Aug. 18.“His reinstatement is demonstrative of Vallejo’s lack of accountability and vice-like grip the Vallejo Police Officer’s association has on the citizens,” Monterrosa family attorney Lee Merritt said of Tonn, who killed Monterrosa during a night of civil unrest in 2020. “The people of Vallejo deserve better. The family of Sean deserves better.”Merritt called the decision, “appalling” and said Tonn’s behavior “has fractured the Vallejo community.”According to Tonn’s lawyer Joshua A. Olander, Tonn has been reinstated with full back pay. Olander said the decision was issued after an evidentiary hearing and represented the second determination by a neutral hearing officer that Detective Tonn’s use of deadly force...

Bay Area man gets 25 years to life for killing transient in 2018

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:48:00 GMT

A Solano County man who in July pleaded no contest to a 2018 killing in Fairfield and felony assault of a jail guard in 2020 was sentenced on Monday to 25 years to life for the murder and three years for the assault.Seated at the defense table in Department 23, Derek Edward Dunlap Jr. — shackled at the waist, clad in a striped jail jumpsuit, and his braided black hair falling past his ears — heard Solano County Superior Court Judge John B. Ellis say the three-year term for the assault, originally charged as an attempted murder, would be served concurrently, or folded into, the murder sentence.The judge also order Dunlap, 31, to pay restitution and credited him with more than 1900 days, or more than five years, of custody credit in the murder case and nearly 1,200 days, or slightly more than three years, of credit for time served in the assault case.The hearing lasted fewer than five minutes. Just before he left the courtroom, Dunlap conferred briefly with his defense attorney Sal Gi...