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In ‘Ahsoka,’ a ‘Star Wars’ fan favorite returns

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

For many casual viewers, “Star Wars” is the domain of familiar faces: the heroic Jedi Luke Skywalker, the nefarious Sith Lord Darth Vader, the roguish smuggler Han Solo and the tenacious Princess Leia.But over the years, the universe of “Star Wars” has expanded far beyond the realm originally imagined by George Lucas. For viewers who have not been inclined or able to consume all of the seemingly endless array of “Star Wars” sequels, prequels, TV spinoffs, and book and video game adaptations, keeping up with the recurring characters can feel a bit like trying to memorize an intergalactic phone book. You might know the droids R2-D2, C3PO and BB-8. But what about L0-LA59, C1-10P and L3-37?The title of the latest “Star Wars” series, “Ahsoka,” premiering Wednesday on Disney+, may be unfamiliar even for viewers who consider themselves relatively knowledgeable about the franchise. The title character, played by Rosario Dawson in the series, has never appeared in a live-action “Star Wars” m...

Allina Health reverses policy cutting off clinical care to patients with substantial unpaid bills

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

Allina Health System announced Wednesday that it was reversing a policy cutting off non-emergency care to its patients who owed more than $4,500 in medical bills.The Minneapolis-based nonprofit health system, which operates more than 100 hospitals and clinics in Minnesota and western Wisconsin and brings in $4 billion a year in revenue, sometimes rejects patients for clinical care who are deep in debt, according to internal documents and interviews with doctors, nurses and patients, the New York Times reported in June.Less than two weeks later, Allina announced it would “reexamine” its policy but would not restore clinical care for patients who already had services cut off.On Wednesday, Allina issued a statement saying it was reversing its policy:“Our policy that interrupted the scheduling of non-emergency, outpatient clinic care for patients who do not engage after significant outreach to support the resolution of their medical debt has been extensively reviewed. ...

Other voices: The robotaxi revolution is here. L.A., other cities need to be able to regulate driverless cars

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

LOS ANGELES — It was not a great start to the robotaxi revolution. One day after California officials allowed a massive expansion of autonomous vehicle taxi service in San Francisco earlier this month, nearly a dozen self-driving Cruise vehicles came to a stop in the middle of a busy neighborhood, blocking other cars and tying up traffic for about 15 minutes until the cars woke up and moved along.The problem was caused by cell connectivity issues, according to Cruise. So many people were in the area for a music festival that cellular networks were overwhelmed and the company couldn’t communicate with the cell-connected cars.Nobody was harmed and the delay was relatively minor. But the incident again raised alarm over the commercial rollout of robotaxis that are still having technical problems, including blocking streets and interfering with emergency responders. What happens if there’s an earthquake that knocks out cell service? Will the streets become clogged by d...

Elizabeth Rosenthal: Big Pharma’s playbook will bankrupt Americans who can’t afford medications

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

America’s pharmaceutical giants are now suing to block the federal government’s first effort at drug price regulation. Last year’s Inflation Reduction Act included what on its face seems a modest proposal: The federal government would for the first time be empowered to negotiate prices Medicare pays for drugs — but only for 10 very expensive medicines beginning in 2026 (an additional 15 in 2027 and 2028, with more added in later years). Another provision would require manufacturers to pay rebates to Medicare for drug prices that increased faster than inflation.Those provisions alone could reduce the federal deficit by $237 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office has calculated. Those savings would come from tamping down on drug prices, which are costing an average of 3.44 times (sometimes 10 times as much) as what the same brand-name drugs cost in other developed countries, where governments already negotiate prices.Without any guardrails, drug...

Other voices: For the party’s sake and the nation’s, GOP must renounce Trump

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

The latest indictment of Donald Trump, an unprecedented fourth set of charges handed down against him in a span of four months, has spawned chatter across America’s airwaves and dinner tables about the GOP’s prospects in 2024. Will they be doomed not just by the dark shadow cast by the cases against Trump but also by what is sure to be his continuing obsession with perpetuating the lie that he won the 2020 presidential contest?If Trump ends up being the GOP nominee, it’s likely that much of the party will, like lemmings, continue to hew to Trump’s irrational, self-serving script and echo his indefensible assertions.Republicans even want Trump’s main competition right now, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, to treat the former president with kid gloves. That kind of blind, self-destructive loyalty should have Republicans more than concerned about their party’s chances. But the GOP should be worried about something even more ominous.As long as the GOP, part...

Letters: Good intent, St. Paul Council. But child-care proposal is poorly thought out

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

Good intention. Poor planSt. Paul has been a wonderful place to raise my children and, more recently, to help raise my grandchildren. As a city taxpayer, I support government efforts to raise revenue to support families, kids, and especially our childcare workforce. However, in all such efforts, the devil is in the details, and the more I’ve learned how we’d raise revenue, the more it gives me pause.Childcare IS expensive. Families at all income levels pay punishing sums of money for it. Apart from regular opportunities to spend time with my granddaughter, easing the financial pressure on my son and daughter-in-law is the main reason I assist them with childcare. Truthfully, childcare should be as available to everyone as our public schools. If it’s needed, it’s available for little or no cost, regardless of family income.So, while I support the intent of the ballot question recently approved by St. Paul’s City Council, I find it poorly thought out.As written, its financial un...

Some Missouri school districts approved to use own assessment tests

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Preliminary test scores show Missouri students are still not performing as well in school as they were before the pandemic.It's no surprise that the pandemic affected students' learning. Initial 2022–2023 Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores show that while there was an increase in math, English language arts and science, there was a decline in social studies. The report shows higher English scores in elementary and high school but lower or flat scores in middle schools.Starting this school year, 20 districts will be allowed to use their own assessment plan, instead of the state's end-of-year evaluation system."A number of school leaders and local school boards have come together to say, let's give this a run and see if we can figure out a way to do things a little bit better," Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven said.A new plan to measure student achievement by using alternative assessments had been i...

Kristin Smart killer Paul Flores in serious condition after being attacked in prison

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

The man convicted last fall of killing Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart in 1996 was hospitalized after he was attacked in prison, according to an official for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.Paul Flores was taken to the hospital Wednesday after he was attacked at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, according to his attorney Harold Mesick and CDCR. He was most recently listed as being in "serious condition," according to CDCR officials. The circumstances surrounding his attack are under investigation by the prison's investigative unit.Flores was transferred to Pleasant Valley less than a week ago while he awaits appeal for his murder conviction.Flores was convicted of first-degree murder in October 2022, following a whirlwind trial and years of speculation related to the most infamous unsolved crime on California's Central Coast. Smart was 19 years old when she vanished on May 25, 1996 from Cal Poly's campus in San Luis Obispo. Flores was also a stude...

Missing elderly SoCal woman was swept away during Tropical Storm Hilary

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

Loved ones are searching for a missing SoCal woman whose home was swept away during Tropical Storm Hilary.The missing woman, Christie Rockwood, 74, is a resident of Angelus Oaks who was last seen on Aug. 20, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.Rockwood’s mobile home in the Seven Oaks Village area was “overwhelmed by rising river water and her residence was swept away from its foundation,” authorities said.Debris from her home was found nearby, but only the foundation Rockwood’s home sat on is left at the site.Rockwood’s daughter, Tracey Monteverde, said she knows her mother was inside the home during the storm and is hopeful she’s still alive.“I know she didn't leave because her car was still there and she lived alone,” Monteverde said. “She only had one car and myself and other people that had talked to her before that, that got late into the night. She was still there.”Loved ones are searching for Christie Rockwood, 74, a missing SoCal woman whose home was ...

Scientists solve 'Octopus Garden' mystery off California coast

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

A deep-sea mystery involving thousands of octopuses found off the coast of Central California was recently solved by a team of ocean researchers, KTLA sister station KRON reports. The mystery appeared three years ago, when the largest known "Octopus Garden," in the world was discovered two miles underwater on the seafloor.In 2018, researchers discovered thousands of octopuses near the base of an extinct volcano, Davidson Seamount, 80 miles off the coast of Monterey."It is the biggest aggregation of octopuses ever discovered, and the only one off the coast of the U.S.," a San Jose State University spokesperson wrote. Blue whales are thriving in California waters – the story of their amazing comeback A team of biologists, ecologists, geologists, and engineers monitored the Octopus Garden using high-tech tools to learn why octopuses are attracted to the deep-sea location. The team included members of SJSU’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, ...