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He fought fires in San Jose. Then came a long-awaited call from the NFL

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:32:42 GMT

Scott Campbell woke up on April 19 with a feeling of anticipation and a plan for potential disappointment.A longtime officiator for college football and a retired San Jose firefighter, Campbell had heard rumors that the NFL was making calls that day to a lucky few being recruited as referees for the coming season.Campbell carries himself with a sense of cool confidence and focus — traits that have surely helped him both while fighting fires and making tough calls on the gridiron — but he didn’t get his hopes up that his decadeslong dream was finally coming true.The call that changed his life came at 9:32 a.m. The NFL offered him a spot in one of American sports’ most elite circles — a job that entails hundreds of thousands of fans watching your every move.“That phone call for me, I don’t know, it’s almost an out-of-body experience because it was overwhelming,” said Campbell, 55. “It really hasn’t hit me even today.”Scott Campbell...

Animal Life: Why is a San Jose cat just staring at the wall above his litter box?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:32:42 GMT

DEAR JOAN: My 1½-year-old Burmese cat, Zephyr, is the most stubborn, curious, smart, high-energy cat I have ever had. He becomes fixated on things, such as the lights over the refrigerator (which he will not stay off of). He also constantly gets into the fireplace, which is blocked off, and tries to dig his way behind the dishwasher.For the past month, off and on, but more so lately, he has been fixated on the corner behind his litter box. He stares at the scoops and lays down next to the box. He is eating fine, and all bodily functions are fine. His litter is scooped twice a day. It is really hard to dissuade him from staring and then sleeping or hunkering down next to it.I’ve cleaned the area, and short of introducing a new litter box, I don’t really know what to do.Last year I wrote to you because there was a squirrel inside my wall. Zephyr alerted me to it by staring up in the corner for hours. Then again, as I noted, he gets fixated on other things, too.Before I call pest contr...

TasteFood: Love lasagna? Consider a vegetable gratin

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:32:42 GMT

Eat your lasagna and have your vegetables, too, with a veggie-enhanced rendition of a family favorite. This layered gratin resembles a lasagna, with one key difference: There are no pasta sheets. It’s a glimpse of summer to come, with planks of roasted Mediterranean vegetables rippling with tomato and dollops of ricotta in a gratin-cum-lasagna.Roasted eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash slices keep this dish light and colorful, alternating with a bright tomato sauce and fluffy ricotta. All the components can be prepped in advance, ready for last-minute assembly when you are ready to bake. Pre-roast the vegetables; by doing so, the oil is kept to a minimum. The tomato sauce is simple to make, but a favorite store-bought tomato sauce can easily be substituted. And be sure to use whole-milk ricotta cheese for best flavor and results, as the skim variety can be grainy and tasteless.Roasted Vegetable GratinServes 4 to 6INGREDIENTSTomato sauce:1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil1 s...

Getting to know the world of backyard chickens

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:32:42 GMT

“Like most people, I initially got chickens because I wanted a source of eggs from hens who I knew had lived good lives,” freelance journalist Tove Danovich says. “It kind of spiraled from there.”Danovich’s “spiral” took her into a fascinating investigative journey to get a wider view of chickens, their evolution, their lives and the ways in which they are used.The result is her engaging new book, “Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them” (Agate, $27) that seamlessly blends memoir with animal welfare journalism.Danovich’s book outlines “the pros and cons of the (backyard chicken) movement with stories from my flock as well as looking out a bit more at who chickens are as a species and why I think they’re so lovely.”She lives with her flock of eight hens and documents their activities on Instagram at @bestlittlehenhouse.“Each of my girls very much has her own personality,” she says. “My tiny bantam Emmylou won’t come back into the coop...

They were designed to be safer: How de-horned cows were doomed

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:32:42 GMT

Every year, millions of beef cattle are born without horns, a trait that naturally emerged in Scottish pastures in the 16th century and has since spared many lives from goring.But when UC Davis created horn-free dairy cattle — through gene-editing, rather than generations of routine breeding — federal regulators did not welcome the new bovines to the herd.Under rigorous federal rules established in the early years of the genomic revolution, and upheld during the Obama administration, genetically modified animals are considered to be a new type of veterinary pharmaceutical, needing FDA approval. Without it, meat and milk can’t enter the food supply. As a result, the nine cows — and the experiment — are now dead, burned, at a cost of $1,200 each.“It was a waste. There wasn’t any risk,” said animal geneticist and professor Alison Van Eenennaam of UC Davis, who spent seven years on the project. “Basically, they were an unapproved drug.”In this July 11, 2018 photo, animal geneticis...

Brock Purdy relishes new dynamic in 49ers’ ever-changing quarterback room

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:32:42 GMT

SANTA CLARA – When is it not all about the 49ers’ QB1? When the quarterbacks are inside their meeting room.Every year, it undergoes a metamorphosis, all in search of the right mix to produce an ideal starter, on any given Sunday, any given season.A healthy Brock Purdy is that quarterback, in coach Kyle Shanahan’s ideal scenario for 2023.As last season’s four-quarterback relay showed, you better have a great committee of quarterbacks and coaches. Call it a team’s subcommittee, or committee of subs, if you will.Quarterbacks come and go (see: 15 overall since 2017). Expectations remain the same: lead the 49ers to their first Super Bowl win since Steve Young last did so in the 1994 season.ROOM WITH A VIEW This year’s dynamic offers a radically different QB room.Returners: Purdy and Trey Lance, along with position coach Brian Griese and his assistant, Klay Kubiak, Klint’s younger brother.Newcomers: Veteran quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Brandon Allen, along with assistant Klint...

Fire chief: 1 person rescued overnight from Iowa building collapse; No deaths reported

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:32:42 GMT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — One person was found overnight at the site of a collapsed apartment building in Iowa, bringing the total number of people rescued from the crumbling structure to eight, authorities said Monday.Davenport Fire Chief Michael Carlsten said at a news conference Monday that it was unclear if anyone was still missing after part of the six-story complex crashed to the ground in the eastern Iowa city. No deaths have been reported.“No known individuals are trapped in that facility,” Carlsten said. Authorities have not released how many people were injured or provided details on the nature of their injuries. Carlsten did say that the person who was rescued overnight was in the hospital.Rescue teams, including K-9 units, were inside the building all night.“When something like this happens here, and tragedy strikes, our responders immediately do their work and their job and I can’t thank them enough,” Davenport Mayor Mike Matson said.Rescuers were called to the scene...

Modest Heidenheim celebrates Bundesliga promotion after remarkable climb

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:32:42 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Little-known Heidenheim has seemingly come out of nowhere to reach the Bundesliga, a remarkable success for a town of just 50,000 inhabitants in the south of Germany.Two injury-time goals were enough for Frank Schmidt’s team to clinch promotion as second-division champion on Sunday.Heidenheim will be the 57th team to play in the Bundesliga since the league’s formation in 1963.Twenty years ago it was playing at fifth-tier level as part of Heidenheimer Sportbund, a local sports association that has 25 departments today including baseball, boxing, fencing, swimming, tennis and gymnastics.The current-day soccer club Heidenheim was formed in 2007 when it separated from the Sportbund as a stand-alone entity under the auspices of the German soccer league.Schmidt, who was born in Heidenheim, took over as coach that same year. He has since become the longest-serving coach in German professional soccer.As a defensive midfielder, Schmidt had helped Heidenheim clinch promotion fro...

Mauricio Pochettino hired as Chelsea manager to lead rebuild after turbulent season

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:32:42 GMT

Chelsea hired Mauricio Pochettino as manager on Monday, tasking the Argentine coach with getting the best out of an expensively assembled squad that has underperformed at the start of a new era for the English club.Pochettino will take up the role on July 1, Chelsea said, after agreeing to a two-year contract, with the club having the option of keeping him on for a further year.It is Pochettino’s first coaching role since leaving Paris Saint-Germain in July last year and marks his return to the Premier League, where he had an impressive 5 1/2-year spell with Tottenham that included a run to the Champions League final.Pochettino had been widely expected to take the Chelsea job, which is considered one of the most high-profile positions in European soccer.He is the permanent successor to Graham Potter, who was fired in March after nearly seven months in charge. Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has led the team on an interim basis since then and it finished the Premier Lea...

Rescatan a una persona mientras continúa la búsqueda de sobrevivientes en un edificio de apartamentos que derrumbó parcialmente en Davenport, Iowa

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:32:42 GMT

(CNN) —  Una persona más fue rescatada durante la noche después de que un edificio de apartamentos de seis pisos se derrumbara parcialmente en Davenport, Iowa, dijo el jefe de bomberos de la ciudad este lunes por la mañana mientras los equipos con perros de búsqueda continuaban buscando a alguien que todavía pudiera estar atrapado en el interior.“No se sabe de ninguna persona que haya quedado atrapada en el edificio”, dijo el jefe Mike Carlsten, quien añadió que no se ha informado de ninguna víctima mortal.Sin embargo, “el edificio no es estructuralmente sólido y supone un riesgo para los equipos de respuesta”, dijo, añadiendo que los ingenieros estructurales se encuentran en el lugar mientras los equipos de primera respuesta se preparan para pasar de las operaciones de rescate a las de recuperación.¿Qué pasó en el derrumbe de un edificio en Surfside, Miami? ¿Cuántas personas murieron? Cronología e investigaciónEl edificio de seis plantas se derrumbó pa...