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Taco Bell claims victory in the battle to free ‘Taco Tuesday’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:17 GMT

By Jordan Valinsky | CNNTaco Bell has won its fight over the “Taco Tuesday” trademark in all 50 states now that lone holdout — a restaurant in New Jersey — has “parted ways” with the term.The chain’s months-long efforts to cancel usage of the trademark ended Tuesday, with Taco Bell saying that its “ambitious goal has been met” after Gregory’s Restaurant and Bar in Somers Point, New Jersey, forfeited its trademark this week after more than four decades of owning it. Taco Bell didn’t reveal if a financial settlement was involved.“The response we’ve seen over the last six months since taking action to free ‘Taco Tuesday’ is the exact reason we felt it was worth freeing it in the first place,” Taco Bell’s chief marketing officer Taylor Montgomery told CNN.Taco Bell scored a significant win in July when Taco John’s, a smaller regional chain, abandoned its trademark registration in the other 49 states because it didn’t want to pay the legal fees that come with a fight against its larger r...

Trump’s ex-fixer Cohen takes stand against him in NY

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:17 GMT

By Jake Offenhartz and Jennifer Peltz | Associated PressNEW YORK — Five years after publicly turning on Donald Trump, his former fixer Michael Cohen faced off with him Tuesday at the civil fraud trial that threatens to upend the ex-president’s real estate empire.Cohen didn’t look at Trump while walking past him to testify as a key witness against his former boss.Trump, the former president and Republican 2024 front-runner, voluntarily came to court for the highly anticipated testimony, attending the Manhattan trial for a sixth day this month. Cohen, whose appearance was delayed from last week by an unspecified health issue, has said it is his first time seeing Trump in five years.“This is not about Donald Trump vs. Michael Cohen or Michael Cohen vs. Donald Trump,” Cohen said as he arrived at the courthouse. “This is about accountability, plain and simple.”Trump, heading into court, noted that Cohen served prison time after pleading guilty to tax e...

Cruise driverless taxi and testing permits suspended by DMV

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:17 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Cruise's autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing permits were suspended by the California Department of Motor Vehicles Tuesday morning. The DMV cited "an unreasonable risk to public safety" as being behind the closure.The DMV said its autonomous vehicle regulations "provide a framework to facilitate the safe testing and deployment" of autonomous vehicle technology on California's public roads. "When there is an unreasonable risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits," the DMV said. Who is pilot Joseph Emerson? Pleasant Hill neighbors say he’s ‘very friendly’ The DMV said it notified Cruise of the suspension on Tuesday and that the suspension was effective immediately. The agency said it had provided Cruise with the steps needed to reapply to reinstate its suspended permits.The DMV said it would not approve the reinstatement until the company "has fulfilled the requirements to the department's satisfaction."There ha...

Gas leak in San Ramon closes Crow Canyon Road

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:17 GMT

(KRON) -- Crow Canyon Road in San Ramon is closed in both directions from Barbados Drive to Alcosta Boulevard due to a 2-inch gas line break, according to the City of San Ramon.San Ramon police officers are on the scene, officials said, and the Pacific Gas and Electric company is en route. Authorities are advising motorists to use alternative routes.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Rally demands more regulations for robotaxis in SF

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:17 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Professional drivers in San Francisco, public safety officials, Teamsters, and labor leaders plan to rally outside of the Cruise headquarters on Tuesday. The rally's objective is to highlight safety issues and demand regulations.These groups plan to rally as the third-quarter earnings from Cruise’s parent company, General Motors, are released today. CHP seeks community help with hit-and-run crash The group says Cruise robotaxis have stood in the way of San Francisco fire trucks and allege that the driverless taxis were involved in the death of a pedestrian after blocking an ambulance that was transporting a patient to the hospital. There have been multiple accidents and traffic jams because of the driverless taxis, according to the group.However, in August, state regulators approved an expansion to allow Cruise and its competitor Waymo to operate these driverless taxis throughout San Francisco at all hours.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration h...

Secret U.S. War in Lebanon Is Tinder for Escalation of Israel–Gaza Conflict

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:17 GMT

The State Department urged U.S. citizens to leave Lebanon on Sunday “due to the unpredictable security situation.” The warning followed clashes between protesters and Lebanese security forces in a Beirut suburb near the U.S. Embassy after hundreds of Palestinians were killed last week in a blast at Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza. The unrest seems to confirm the fears of almost eight in 10 Americans that the war between Israel and Hamas will lead to a broader conflict in the Middle East.But few Americans realize that the United States has long been embroiled in a wider war in Lebanon, and that U.S. forces may be a target there, as well. The U.S. has, over decades, poured billions of dollars in security assistance into Lebanon and conducted counterterrorism efforts against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia group with political and military wings. Lebanon’s dominant political and military force, Hezbollah has long been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.In the shadow of that co...

Family, friends, colleagues bid farewell to Philadelphia officer killed in airport garage shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:17 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Family, friends and fellow law enforcement officers gathered Tuesday to bid farewell to a Philadelphia police officer killed in an airport parking garage shooting that also wounded another officer earlier this month.Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford announced Tuesday at the service at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia that slain officer Richard Mendez had been posthumously promoted to sergeant and awarded several medals.Mendez and Officer Raul Ortiz had just started their shift around 11 p.m. on Oct. 12 when they heard breaking glass and saw several people breaking into a car in the parking lot at Philadelphia International Airport, police said. A confrontation ensued and the two officers and one of the suspects were shot. Mendez, 50, was shot four times and pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. Ortiz was shot once in the arm.Stanford said Mendez was described by family and friends as “a great son, an amazing husband, a...

Lebanese PM visits troops at border with Israel while Saudi Arabia evacuates families of diplomats

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:17 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Tuesday visited troops deployed near the border with Israel and U.N. peacekeepers, as Saudi Arabia evacuated the families of diplomatic staff because of ongoing clashes between Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops.The Saudi move comes amid rising tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border, where Hezbollah members have been exchanging fire with Israeli troops daily for two weeks.There was no official announcement from Saudi authorities, but the move came days after Saudi Arabia urged its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations said the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Waleed Bukhari, the military attache and other staff members were not with the 65 people leaving Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon.The visit by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to the tense southern province was his first since clashes erupted along the border following a surprise attack by the Palesti...

Clemson brings in Syracuse transfer Girard to add scoring punch to deep, experienced team

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:17 GMT

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Joe Girard III found out quickly his latest ACC stop wasn’t going to be like his last. The Syracuse transfer recalls getting ready for his first day of class at Clemson and finding fresh-baked cookies outside his door with a note wishing him good luck at school. “I’m not saying you don’t get that in New York, but it was very few (and far) in between,” said Girard, one of the most coveted portal players this past offseason. Girard averaged 16.4 points last season as a senior for the Orange. He joins a Clemson group led by forward PJ Hall, who averaged 15.3 points a game, giving the Tigers two of the ACC’s top returning scorers from last season. Clemson coach Brad Brownell said the 6-foot-2 graduate student guard brings the experience of his four seasons at Syracuse, where doing things the right way on the court was a requirement if you were going to play. Girard made 88 3-pointers, more than anyone at Clemson last year, and has the s...

The Dolphins’ utilization of ‘cheat motion’ takes the NFL by storm

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:17 GMT

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Coach Kyle Shanahan saw the new wrinkle his former assistant Mike McDaniel added to the Miami offense by putting speedster Tyreek Hill in short motion at the snap and immediately added it to the San Francisco offense.The opportunity to give a playmaker a running start was just the type of addition Shanahan wanted for Deebo Samuel and other playmakers on the 49ers offense so he added it his own playbook with the name “cheat motion.” Why that name?“I don’t know. It looks hard to stop people like Tyreek and Deebo and stuff with a running start,” Shanahan said. “That’s usually only in the CFL. So it’s cool to get them running sideways and still find a way to hit it vertically.”The use of pre-snap motion has been on the rise throughout the NFL over the past decade, going from a usage rate of just 37.5% of plays in 2014 to 54.6% so far this season, according to Sportradar.Some of the most proficient and innovative offenses are using it an even higher rate,...