SAN JOSE – Nearly five months after Santa Clara County announced its plans to buy Regional Medical Center within the wake of HCA Healthcare's decision to downgrade the trauma center, an agreement has been reached on the sale.

The county will take over operations of the 258-bed East San Jose hospital on April 1, making it the fourth hospital within the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare System — the second-largest county-owned health and hospital system within the state.

The purchase caps a virtually year-long saga that sent shockwaves across the East Side as residents frightened in regards to the lack of a trauma center nearby and county officials raised concerns in regards to the potential strain on the local health care system.

Santa Clara County is buying the hospital for $150 million, lower than the $175 million price previously announced in August.

“In the long term, this is a real strategic move for the county,” County Manager James Williams told The Mercury News. “This is a huge win for the community. This will help ensure stability and access to integrated care for the entire eastern portion of Santa Clara County, and that provides stability throughout the Santa Clara Valley healthcare system.”

HCA (Hospital Corporation of America) originally intended to completely close the Regional Medical Center's trauma center and discontinue certain services for cardiac arrest and stroke patients. But in July, the Tennessee-based healthcare giant announced it will as an alternative downgrade from a Level II facility to a Level III facility and retain a few of those life-saving services. The changes got here into effect on August 12, 2024.

But county leaders and native medical experts said that wasn't enough. There aren’t any other Level II trauma centers in Santa Clara County, and the downgrade to Level III resulted within the hospital now not having certain specialties – similar to neurosurgery – on call. The nearest Level I trauma centers are Valley Medical Center, eight miles away, and Stanford Health Care, greater than 20 miles away.

In an announcement, the president of HCA Healthcare's Far West division said
Jackie Van Blaricum said, “Our dedicated nursing staff will be instrumental in ensuring that Regional Medical Center makes a smooth transition to the Santa Clara Valley Health System.” HCA Healthcare stays a powerful community partner of Good Samaritan Hospital and we sit up for continuing to offer the high-quality Providing health care Santa Clara County deserves.”

Williams said the county's first priority is to revive Regional Medical Center's designation as a Level II trauma center, which he said will occur the day the sale closes and the county takes over. He expects cardiac arrest and stroke services to resume soon.

Williams said the county continues to be planning to revive labor and delivery services that were closed on the hospital in 2020, but there was no timeline for when that might occur.

“There will be no disruption to services,” Williams said of the ownership change. “The hospital itself will go from HCA operations to county operations literally overnight. There will be no disruption or closure of the hospital itself.”

Recently elected Superintendent Betty Duong, whose district includes the Regional Medical Center, said in an announcement that “the dismantling of health care services at RMC East has hit San Jose hard.”

“The county’s purchase and rescue of the Regional Medical Center, located in the heart of one of the most marginalized and historically disadvantaged areas of our county, is critical to restoring critical access to health care,” she said.

Originally published: January 13, 2025 at 2:51 pm PST

Cal's Fernando Mendoza, who has emerged as considered one of the country's up-and-coming quarterbacks, announced on social media He will leave school on Wednesday and enter the transfer portal.

Mendoza's surprise departure comes per week before Cal (6-6) faces No. 24 UNLV (10-3) within the LA Bowl and was met with disappointment and frustration by Justin Wilcox. The Bears' head coach said he tried unsuccessfully to persuade the redshirt sophomore to remain at Berkeley.

“Definitely disappointed” Wilcox said during a news conference Wednesday. “Yes, I will keep all conversations (with Mendoza) private. I think this is the best. … I don’t think anything in college football surprises me anymore.”

Mendoza had develop into a favourite of the Cal fan base along with his bubbly personality and gritty play even before he led the Bears to a dramatic big-game victory over Stanford on a 98-yard drive last month He shed tears of pride for his team through the post-game interview. On Wednesday, he explained his decision to enter the transfer portal on the social media platform X.

“Every person faces decisions that inevitably shape his life, and they rarely lack seriousness,” Mendoza wrote. “But in the interest of my footballing future, I made this decision.”

Mendoza was sparsely recruited out of highschool as Cal was the one power conference program to supply him a scholarship.

After amassing 3,004 yards passing and a 68.7 percent completion rate, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Mendoza has loads of options for his next school. The website 247Sports said the Miami product ranks behind only Duke's Maalik Murphy among the many dozens of quarterbacks now featured within the portal. Mendoza is someone evaluators view as “a high-end talent with NFL upside.” based on 247Sports.

A preferred speculative landing spot for Mendoza is his hometown of Miami, where the Hurricanes will lose star quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward to the NFL after this season.

Wilcox said no decision has been made yet on who will start at quarterback when Cal takes on No. 24 UNLV next Wednesday night at SoFi Stadium. Cal third-string quarterback CJ Harris and freshman EJ Caminong share reps in practice, he said.

Chandler Rogers, Mendoza's substitute, could be the heir apparent under normal circumstances. However, he was injured late in Cal's 38-6 regular-season loss to SMU and was forced out with a leg injury. His status for the bowl game is unknown.

Trying to sort out his quarterback situation a number of days before a bowl game wasn't what Wilcox expected this week.

“We did everything we could to keep (Mendoza),” Wilcox said. “And as I mentioned, these guys just have to make tough decisions. And I feel for the players of that time because there's a lot going on. It's very, very complicated.

“We don’t have enough time to talk about it, and I don’t necessarily think it would be productive to talk about it.”

Mendoza's impending departure comes someday after Wilcox and Cal announced the hiring of former Auburn and Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin because the Bears' latest offensive coordinator.

When Mendoza announced his decision in a lengthy post, he took the time to specific his gratitude to the university, his teammates, Wilcox and his staff, and Cal fans in every single place.

“I sincerely hope that I was able to have a positive impact as a person and not just as a football player during my time at Berkeley,” Mendoza wrote. “I am forever indebted to all of you for taking the risk and giving a young man the opportunity to pursue his dream.”

Entertainment

“Saturday Night Live” is ready to strike a brand new tone in its first episode since his election victory because it marks a second term for Donald Trump.

Standup comedian and actor Bill Burr will host for the second time, with Mk.gee as musical guest.

But most eyes will probably be on the NBC sketch institution's cold opening and the signal it sends about what 4 more years will mean for the widely liberal-leaning show, apart from a everlasting job for solid member James Austin Johnson , which does an impression of Trump, has grow to be definitive.

In the primary five episodes of the fiftieth season, which saw a rankings surge, the show's openings made Vice President Kamala Harris — played by recurring solid member Maya Rudolph — the central star, culminating last week in an appearance by Harris herself culminated Dizzying pre-election energy is within the air.

This Saturday evening could possibly be a little bit less live.

After Trump's first election victory in 2016 Kate McKinnonwho played Hillary Clinton on the show, appeared because the losing contestant on the piano and sang an almost entirely somber and serious version of Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah,” changing just one verse from the preferred versions of the song.

“And even though everything has gone wrong, I will stand before the Lord of the song with nothing on my tongue but 'Hallelujah,'” McKinnon sang in what became a nationwide moment of catharsis for the losing side.

After he finished, McKinnon said in a shaking voice, “I'm not giving up and neither should you,” before delivering the obligatory “Live from New York, it's Saturday night!”

Standup comedian Dave Chappelle hosted this episode. In one skit, he and one other black comedian, Chris Rock, watched the election results with white liberals who, unlike their black guests, were shocked by the outcomes.

“This is the most shameful thing America has ever done,” says white actor Beck Bennett at the tip. Rock and Chapel Then we take a look at one another and burst out laughing.

Chappelle also hosted the post-election show “SNL” in 2020, but this time that honor goes to a different comedian, Burr, who’s currently on a serious stand-up tour and can appear in a revival this spring with Kieran Culkin and Bob Odenkirk “Glengarry Glen Ross” will appear on Broadway,

Burr's politics are best described as furiously centrist, no less than as reflected in his comedy and frequent guest appearances on podcasts and talk shows. But apart from the fake news of “Weekend Update,” the show tends to veer away from politics after its opening.

Bitcoin mining attracts latest investors

SAN FRANCISCO — The world's first industrial hydrogen-powered passenger ferry will begin service in San Francisco Bay, a part of plans to phase out diesel-powered ships and reduce planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions, California officials said Friday at an illustration of the vessel.

The 70-foot catamaran, named MV Sea Change, will carry as much as 75 passengers along the waterfront between Pier 41 and the downtown San Francisco ferry terminal starting July 19, officials said. The service can be free for six months while it operates under a pilot program.

“The implications of this are enormous because this is not the last stop,” said Jim Wunderman, chairman of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority, which operates commuter ferries across the bay. “If we can operate this successfully, there will be more of these vessels in our fleet and in other people's fleets across the United States, and we think around the world.”

Sea Change can travel about 300 nautical miles and operate for 16 hours before needing to be refueled. The fuel cells generate electricity by combining oxygen and hydrogen in an electrochemical response that releases water as a byproduct.

The technology could help clean up the shipping industry, which accounts for nearly three percent of world greenhouse gas emissions, experts say. That's lower than cars, trucks, rail or aviation, nevertheless it's still lots – and the number is rising.

“The real value of this becomes clear when you multiply it by the number of ferries in operation around the world,” he said. “There is huge potential here. This is how you can start to reduce the carbon intensity of your ports.”

Supporters also hope that hydrogen fuel cells could sooner or later power container ships.

The International Maritime Organization, which regulates industrial shipping, desires to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by the center of the century.

As fossil fuel emissions proceed to warm the Earth's atmosphere, the Biden administration is banking on hydrogen as an influence source for vehicles, manufacturing and electricity generation. It has offered $8 billion to encourage the nation's industry, engineers and planners to determine methods to produce and deliver clean hydrogen.

Environmental groups say hydrogen carries its own pollution and climate risks.

Currently, the hydrogen produced world wide every year, mainly for refineries and fertilizer production, is comprised of natural gas. This process is warming the planet as an alternative of saving it. In fact, a brand new study by researchers at Cornell and Stanford universities has found that when hydrogen is produced, much of it emits carbon dioxide, meaning that hydrogen-powered transportation cannot yet be considered clean energy.

But proponents of hydrogen-powered transportation say hydrogen production will change into more environmentally friendly in the long run. They expect that electricity from wind and solar energy can be increasingly used to separate hydrogen and oxygen into water. As such renewable types of energy change into more widely used, hydrogen production is prone to change into cleaner and more cost effective.

The Sea Change project was financed and managed by investment firm SWITCH Maritime. The vessel was built at Bay Ship and Yacht in Alameda, California, and All-American Marine in Bellingham, Washington.

Associated Press author Jennifer McDermott contributed to this report from Providence, Rhode Island.

Originally published: July 15, 2024 at 5:38 am