Author: KION

CNN Newsource

By J.R. Stone

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VALLEJO, California (KGO) — It’s the middle of the school year and hundreds of kids in Vallejo are left wondering when they’ll be able to go back to class.

Over the weekend, their school’s copper wiring was stolen and the electrical system no longer works.

More than 600 kids who attend Solano Widenmann Leadership Academy, which is K-8, will be home on Monday after the school’s electrical system was knocked out by a thief or thieves.

“Upon further examination, we discovered that someone had broken in and had stripped all our copper wiring to the breakers, essentially leaving the campus dark,” said Vallejo City Unified Superintendent Ruben Aurelio.

Family members of the kids who go to school there are angry.

“For some children, that’s their only positive environment. That’s the only safe haven they have. And to rob them from that is just inexcusable. It’s just really sad,” said Jay Stafford.

Stafford’s sister is now out of school and their family will take turns watching her this week.

Police say no arrests have been made. Aurelio says investigators are looking at surveillance video. But it was dark late Friday into early Saturday, and whoever did this took out the power.

Parents were told that a fix would likely take a week. Aurelio says it could actually be a couple of days or a couple of weeks.

“We’re not flushed with a bunch of money to all of a sudden replace thousands of feet of wiring, copper wiring. Right now, we have an estimate. It will be somewhere between $150 to 250,000 to get this campus back up,” Aurelio said.

“It’s just very sad. A lot is going on in Vallejo right now. We are what we would like to call a ‘lawless city’ almost. So much is going rampant, and it’s just really sad that now the crime has affected our children being able to attend school,” Stafford said.

Aurelio says it’s possible that extra school days could be added onto the end of the school year, but right now the focus is getting kids learning as quickly and safely as possible.

“We’re going to move to get kids back into school as soon as possible, even if that means distributing students and staff to other campuses that have space that can hold them,” Aurelio said.

“We are a very strong community. We are very close-knit. We have a lot of people who advocate in the community and do great things. I believe this is just one of those things that we will have to get over and triumph over,” Stafford said.

The Vallejo City Unified School District put out this statement:

NOTICE FOR SOLANO WIDENMANN FAMILIES: A theft has severely damaged Solano Widenmann Leadership Academy’s electrical systems, requiring the school to CANCEL CLASSES until further notice. Repairs are expected to take about a week, but if the closure extends, the district will arrange alternate student placements to minimize disruption. Updates on repairs and potential relocations will be shared on ParentSquare, and families are encouraged to contact the school or district office with any questions.

Jeanette Bent

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV) — The Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) announced that the airport has seen double-digit passenger growth for the third consecutive year, serving 622,543 departing and arriving travelers in 2024.

“I’m proud of the work our airport team accomplished to make 2024 a record-breaking year for passengers served—all while the airport was actively being reconstructed as part of our MRY Metamorphosis,” said Executive Director Michael La Pier.

The airport saw a 19.5% increase in passenger traffic in 2024 compared to 2023, making it the most passengers served in a 45-year span. They said that they had 311,101 departing and 311,442 arriving passengers last year.

“A new airline and destination, along with additional passenger seats by existing carriers, contributed to the airport’s busiest year since the closure of Fort Ord in 1994,” wrote the airport in a press release.

Other contributing factors included second daily nonstop flights added to San Diego (on Alaska Airlines), Dallas-Fort Worth (on American Airlines) and Denver (on United Airlines), as well as seasonal nonstop service to Minneapolis-St. Paul (on Sun Country Airlines) and Burbank and Orange County (on JSX).

The airport is saying that the “MRY Metamorphosis” is “transforming the airport” through a replacement passenger terminal, adjacent commercial aircraft ramp and several support facilities.

A handful of construction developments also contributed to the increase in passenger ship, according to the airport, and more new developments are slated for 2025.

Jeanette Bent

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) — The County of Monterey Board of Supervisors heard a Truth Act presentation by the Sheriff’s Office under its jurisdiction for civil immigration enforcement Tuesday.

The information presented was regarding the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data over the past year. Additionally, the county considered public comment and concern over the topic.

The 2024 Truth Act information revealed that 11 people were taken into ICE custody: two for robbery, three for attempted robbery, one for assault with intent for robbery, one for false imprisonment, one for sexual battery, one for assault with a deadly weapon, one for DUI and one for intent to sale methamphetamine, according to deputies.

“We don’t give any information to ICE not covered under the Truth Act,” said the presenting sheriff following a few worried public comments.

The County of Monterey says that the Truth Act hearings are important and required by law. “The local governing body of any California county or city in which local law enforcement has provided ICE access to an individual during the previous year must provide information to the public about ICE’s access to individuals and receive and consider public comment,” wrote the county in a statement.

Some of the public comment included: “Stop all of ICE activity in Monterey County,” and “Our community is completely afraid.”

This comes after rumors of ICE presence in local areas.

District 1 Supervisor Luis Alejo chimed in, saying that “the most serious offenders” are the ones that ICE go after. “When you commit a serious crime, you have to face the repercussions,” he said.

The Board of Supervisors accepted the 2024 Truth Act report with motions detailing further information be transparent and available to the public.

Sergio Berrueta

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, Calif. (KION-TV) — One person is dead after a solo-vehicle crash along San Justo Road near San Juan Bautista.

Hollister Firefighters Association posted on social media that one person died and two others were transported to local trauma centers with major injuries.

The CHP said the crash was in the area of 1447 San Justo Road happening around 5:03 p.m. The car was on an opposing lane, veering off the highway before overturning in a dirt field.

The identities of the people involved in the crash haven’t been revealed at this time. CHP Hollister-Gilroy are handling the investigation.

CNN Newsource

By Ben Church, CNN

(CNN) — World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler says his “stupid” Christmas day injury won’t impact his first competitive tournament of the year at this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

The American capped off his impressive 2024 with an unfortunate injury sustained while cooking Christmas dinner, forcing him to delay the start of his season.

Scheffler said he was rolling ravioli dough with a wine glass when it shattered and punctured his right palm, requiring surgery on his hand as a result.

“No, not at all,” he told reporters when asked whether his injury might impact his performance at Pebble Beach. “Everything’s feeling good … definitely excited to play. Feeling well rested. Overall feeling good.”

Asked about how exactly the injury was sustained, Scheffler explained that he’d been away with his family in a rental property at Christmas and they had wanted to make ravioli from scratch. Unable to find a rolling pin to make the dough, he opted instead to use a wine glass.

“It broke and the stem kind of got me in the hand,” he said. “I can’t live in a bubble, (I’ve) got to live my life and accidents happen. It could have been a lot worse.

“I actually talked to somebody who did the exact same thing and the stem went straight through their hand. It’s one of those deals where immediately after it happened I was mad at myself because I was like, ‘Gosh, that’s so stupid.’ But you just don’t think about it when you’re in the moment.”

It was a strangely fitting way to close out an unforgettable year for Scheffler – for many reasons.

In April, he won the Masters before going on to win gold at the Olympic Games in Paris. In total, Scheffler won seven events on the PGA Tour in 2024, including the TOUR Championship.

Scheffler also won the Hero World Challenge and helped lead Team USA to its tenth straight win at the Presidents Cup.

Away from golf, though, there was also some controversy. In May, during the PGA Championship, Scheffler was arrested, charged with felony assault and released from jail after an altercation with police. All charges against the golfer were later dismissed.

Earlier that month, the 28-year-old had welcomed his first child with wife Meredith and told reporters ahead of Pebble Beach that his injury layoff had allowed him to spend more time with his family.

“It was frustrating to be sitting at home, not being able to play golf, but we got some good time at home, just us three,” he said.

“It’s pretty rare for me to be at home throughout the day without really having much to do. I couldn’t really work out at first, there wasn’t really a whole lot I could do, so it was nice uninterrupted time for us at home.”

The freak nature of Scheffler’s injury was not lost on some of his fellow professionals.

Speaking ahead of Pebble Beach, Rory McIlroy jokingly questioned why Scheffler was even cooking in the first place.

“I think he made enough money to hire a chef. Why are you cooking yourself?” he said when asked what he thought about the incident.

“Firstly, just concern and hope he was OK. It sounds like he is, it’s good that he’s teeing it up this week. Yeah, get a chef.”

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is due to tee-off on Thursday, with Scheffler paired alongside Brian Harman.

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