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Electric car makers threatened by shortage of lithium batteries

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:49 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Threatened by possible shortages of lithium for electric car batteries, automakers are racing to lock in supplies of the once-obscure “white gold” in a politically and environmentally fraught competition from China to Nevada to Chile.General Motors Co. and the parent company of China’s BYD Auto Ltd. went straight to the source and bought stakes in lithium miners, a rare step in an industry that relies on outside vendors for copper and other raw materials. Others are investing in lithium refining or ventures to recycle the silvery-white metal from used batteries.A shortfall in lithium supplies would be an obstacle for plans to ramp up sales to tens of millions of electric vehicles a year. It is fueling political conflict over resources and complaints about the environmental cost of extracting them.“We already have that risk” of not being able to get enough, GM’s chief financial officer, Paul A. Jacobson, said at a Deutsche Bank conference in mid-June.“We’ve got to have...

Grabbitz is a Hero

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:49 GMT

Grabbitz is a Hero: Singer, songwriter, DJ and producer Grabbitz got interested in electronic music through his XBOX.“Oddly enough, I learned the early ideas of producing from an XBOX game called MTV Music Generator,” he says. “I was producing beats and songs for years before falling in love with dance/bass music, that’s when DJing came in. I was able to make it a career when I was around 20 and released my debut on Monstercat. Full circle moment.”He says that his sound today is hard to describe.“Lately I have been saying it’s like a new electronic alternative bass rock,” he says. “I’m all over the genre spectrum so it’s tough to pinpoint and usually varies by song.”Grabbitz believes that this is a great time for electronic music.“Electronic music has effectively seeped into almost every other genre, influencing it from one way or another,” he says. “And the scene itself seems healthy. There is a lot of cool stuff hap...

Bay Area Tonga Twins are slamming their way into history

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:49 GMT

Before tag team wrestling, throwing girls across the ring, and backslide slams in the ring, the Tonga Twins —Kaoz, born Steffanie and Kona, born Ashley — were born Ashley and Steffanie Manukainiu in Vallejo.The twins’ parents, Finau and Katiola Manukainiu, migrated from Tonga to the Bay Area, settling in Vallejo for better opportunities. The twins recall being raised “the island way” with a strict upbringing.Growing up, the Manikainiu family was one of the first Tongan families in Vallejo.“I just remember all those people who would ask, ‘What nationality are you?’ I would have to explain what a Tongan is,” said Kaoz.At 4, the twins were significantly taller than most of their classmates. One day their older siblings (Aiona and Christopher) were playing basketball and in the middle of a break, the twins jumped on the court striving to make a basket. The coaches around assumed the twins were old enough to play. Shortly after, the twins’ parents enrolled them in Vallejo Little League.T...

Three frontcourt players the Warriors could sign in free agency

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:49 GMT

General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.’s offseason free agency check list is short, but challenging.First, re-sign Draymond Green. Second, sign frontcourt players who can shoot and play within the Warriors’ scheme.Finding such a frontcourt player could challenging given the Warriors’ free-agency restrictions enforced by the new collective bargaining agreement. As “second apron” violators this season, they are only allowed to re-sign their own players and sign free agents to veteran minimum contracts.Adding more to that challenge are the skills a player should possess to get minutes within the Warriors’ system. Head coach Steve Kerr prioritizes players who can rebound and defend their position, be a quick decision-maker within their motion offense and, to fill a frontcourt need, shoot the ball.“All we’re going to be able to have is minimums, so we have to work with that,” Dunleavy said on draft night. “We’re looking at vete...

Big north San Jose tech site may become affordable housing development

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:49 GMT

SAN JOSE — A tech site in north San Jose could become a big housing development under a new “builder’s remedy” proposal that’s being crafted to fast-track the project through the city’s planning process.SummerHill Housing Group has filed the development plans for a site that currently is occupied by an office and research building next to the Intel Innovation Campus in north San Jose, city documents show.The potential development is being proposed at 150 River Oaks Parkway in San Jose. The 5.7-acre property is between North First Street and Zanker Road, according to files at the Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office.The site of an office and research building located at 150 River Oaks Parkway between North First Street and Zanker Road, shown within the outline. Boundaries are approximate. (Google Maps)If built, the housing project would emerge within the footprint of the vast tech hubs that have sprouted over the decades in north San Jos...

Editorial: Bridge toll hike would feed BART’s insatiable appetite for money

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:49 GMT

BART’s insatiable appetite for public money knows no bounds.Refusing to make budget cuts to adjust for plummeting ridership, BART is joining other Bay Area transit agencies in seeking a major bridge toll hike to subsidize service.On the same day that the state Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a budget deal that includes a $5.1 billion California transit bailout, leaders of BART and other Bay Area transit systems said it won’t be enough.Worse, rather than respect the traditional process of seeking voter approval for Bay Area bridge toll hikes that subsidize transit, the transportation officials and Democratic legislators led by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, on Monday announced they are trying to ram the latest one through the Legislature.The toll for cars on the seven state-owned Bay Area bridges, currently $7, would increase $1.50, or 21%, to $8.50 on Jan. 1. That’s in addition to a $1 increase previously approved by voters that would then raise the total to $9.50 o...

Opinion: The role women historians play in preserving history

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:49 GMT

Though U.S. history textbooks acknowledge the contributions of Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Marie Curie and Harriet Tubman, multitudes of women whose invention, innovation and entrepreneurship  shaped our world have largely been excluded from the historical record.Women such as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Bessie Coleman, Victoria Cruz, Donna Hitchens, Grace Hopper, Hedy Lamarr, and Junko Tabei deserve to be preserved and shared with future generations. This has been the work of historians. Women historians.These days, the historical profession, as a whole, is besieged by cutbacks, declining enrollments and — worst of all — attacks by authorities in various governmental jurisdictions. In the United States and abroad, these attacks are on critical thinking and truths — particularly but not limited to studies of gender, race and sexuality — that we attempt to impart to our students at all levels of education.As a member of the Berkshire Confe...

Everything you need to know about AI but were too afraid to ask

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:49 GMT

By Samantha Murphy Kelly | CNN Business executives keep talking about it. Teachers are struggling with what to do about it. And artists like Drake seem angry about it.Love it or hate it, everyone is paying attention to artificial intelligence right now. Almost overnight, a new crop of AI tools has found its way into products used by billions of people, changing the way we work, shop, create and communicate with each other.AI advocates tout the technology’s potential to supercharge our productivity, creating a new era of better jobs, better education and better treatments for diseases. AI skeptics have raised concerns about the technology’s potential to disrupt jobs, mislead people and possibly bring about the end of humanity as we know it. Confusingly, some execs in Silicon Valley seem to hold both sets of views at once.What’s clear, however, is that AI is not going away, but it is changing very fast. Here’s everything you need to know to keep up.What is AI?In the public consciousne...

Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson: “The A’s mean something to me.”

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:49 GMT

OAKLAND — Josh Donaldson has been back to the Coliseum many times since being traded after the 2014 season, but Tuesday night was the first time since it became clear that the team is leaving town for Las VegasDonaldson marked the occasion by hitting a home run, as he’d done 53 times in his last two seasons in Oakland, both leading to the playoffs.Like everyone else outside Las Vegas, he feels bad for A’s fans.“It might not always be sold out, but the people are huge fans of this team,” Donaldson said. “They believe in the team, they live it, and you respect the fans here.”There were 13,050 in attendance Tuesday night, well above the A’s average (9.688) this season, but hardly great for a Yankees visit and almost 20,000 below the major league average.Donaldson recently criticized A’s ownership, questioning the effort that has been made to build a fan base and lamenting the team’s practice of trading star players rather than paying them. He d...

Four-bedroom home sells for $2.7 million in Fremont

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:49 GMT

179 Recino Street – Google Street ViewA 2,552-square-foot house built in 1974 has changed hands. The spacious property located in the 100 block of Recino Street in Fremont was sold on May 12, 2023. The $2,705,000 purchase price works out to $1,060 per square foot. The property features four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a garage. There’s also a pool in the backyard. The unit sits on an 8,352-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently been sold nearby:In November 2022, a 1,708-square-foot home on Canyon Heights Drive in Fremont sold for $2,030,000, a price per square foot of $1,189. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 3,690-square-foot home on the 200 block of Clara Court in Fremont sold in July 2022, for $3,360,000, a price per square foot of $911. The home has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms.On Mackintosh Terrace, Fremont, in July 2022, a 4,144-square-foot home was sold for $4,000,000, a price per square foot of $965. The home has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms.