Latest News from San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
15 minutes ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
49ers make a switch at punter, signing Thomas Morstead and cutting Mitch Wishnowsky
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers made a switch at punter on Wednesday, signing veteran Thomas Morstead and cutting Mitch Wishnowsky after six seasons in the role. The switch at punter is one of several made this offseason by the 49ers to overhaul a special teams unit that struggled last season, leading to the firing of coordinator Brian Schneider. Brant Boyer was hired after spending the previous nine seasons in that role with the New York Jets and has now brought in a punter and a kicker he worked with in the past. San Francisco signed kicker Greg Joseph earlier this month to compete with Jake Moody. The 39-year-old Morstead spent the past two seasons playing for Boyer with Jets after spending most of his career with the New Orleans Saints. He averaged 47.2 yards per punt last season with a 40.7 yard net average. He has averaged 46.8 yards per punt with a 41.5 yard net average in 255 games. He was a second-team All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl in 2012 for New Orleans. Wishnowsky was a fourth-round pick by San Francisco in 2019 and was one of the better punters in the league at pinning opponents deep before a back injury sidelined him for the final eight games last season. He ranked third out of 38 punters with at least 150 attempts since 2019 with 45.2% of his punts getting downed inside the 20. He averaged 45.6 yards per punt with a 40.7 yard net average in 92 games. He averaged 45.2 yards per punt last season with his 36.3-yard net average ranking last among 34 punters with at least 20 attempts. Surratt was drafted in the third round in 2021 by Minnesota and spent the past three seasons with the Jets where he played for both Boyer and current Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Surratt had 18 tackles on defense and 10 more on special teams last season. ___
San Francisco Chronicle
15 minutes ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Fired federal tech staffers file retaliation claim to a panel whose chairwoman Trump also fired
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of roughly 80 fired federal employees on Wednesday appealed their terminations to an administrative body in charge of protecting the rights of federal employees from partisan political practices. Notably, that board's chairwoman was also recently fired by President Donald Trump. The 18F employees, who worked on technology projects such as the IRS' Direct File, filed an appeal at the Merit Systems Protection Board against the General Services Administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. They claim they were identified in February for a reduction-in-force because of their 'perceived political affiliations or beliefs,' as well as 'protected speech and actions supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and actions to resist and blow the whistle on management's improper handling and transition of control concerning sensitive data and systems.' In February, billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk posted on his social media site that he had 'deleted' 18F. Musk was responding to a post by an X user who called 18F 'far left' and mused that Direct File 'puts the government in charge' of preparing people's taxes. 'That group has been deleted,' Musk wrote. The appeal documents state that the employees were removed from federal service 'through a purported RIF because they were perceived to be left-wing, radical, or affiliated with DEI activities," which "abuses the laws and regulations governing RIFs to punish perceived political opponents and to coerce conformity with their values and political positions, and violates federal civil rights statutes.' One of the MSPB's primary functions is to protect federal workers against partisan politics and other prohibited personnel practices by adjudicating employee appeals, according to the board's website.
San Francisco Chronicle
34 minutes ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Portugal's Chega party becomes the main opposition and joins Europe's far-right surge
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal's anti-immigration Chega party notched another political gain for Europe's far right on Wednesday after it was assigned the second-most seats in parliament — meaning it will become the head of the parliamentary opposition to the new government. That shatters the pattern of Portugal's center-right and center-left mainstream parties alternating between heading a government or leading the opposition. Chega's strides since the May 18 election coincide with gains elsewhere by far-right forces. In Europe, those include France's National Rally, the Brothers of Italy and Alternative for Germany, which are now in the political mainstream. Leading the opposition is quite the accomplishment for a once-fringe party that competed in its first election six years ago, when it won one seat. It has surged recently with its hardline stance against immigration and with the inability of traditional parties to form lasting governments. The May 18th election was Portugal's third in as many years. Chega, which means 'Enough,' secured 60 of the National Assembly's 230 seats after it picked up two more seats on Wednesday from the overseas voters of the European Union country of 10.6 million people. 'This is a profound change in the Portuguese political system," Chega leader Andre Ventura told supporters after Chega bested the Socialists by two seats. The center-right Democratic Alliance, led by the Social Democratic Party, captured two more seats to take its tally to 88. Following the election, incoming Prime Minister Luis Montenegro was already looking at heading another minority government similar to the one that fell two months ago in a confidence vote after less than a year in power. But now Montenegro and other parties will face an emboldened far-right competitor that campaigned under the slogan 'Save Portugal' and describes itself as a nationalist party. ___ Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.
San Francisco Chronicle
34 minutes ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
White Sox reliever Miguel Castro injures right knee against Mets
NEW YORK (AP) — Chicago White Sox reliever Miguel Castro injured his right knee Wednesday late in a 9-4 win over the New York Mets. The right-hander entered with light rain falling at the start of the ninth inning and hustled to cover first base on Juan Soto's weak grounder to the edge of the infield grass. Castro caught the toss from first baseman Miguel Vargas and beat Soto to first for the second out, but appeared to jam his right foot into the side of the bag. The 6-foot-7 Castro initially got up and limped a few steps before being helped off the field with his arms draped around two athletic trainers. New York outfielder Brandon Nimmo tapped Castro — who pitched for the Mets from 2020-21 — on the back. Castro was on crutches in the clubhouse after the game. He will undergo testing and be evaluated further, the White Sox said. 'You just don't want to see any of your guys down like that, obviously in a lot of pain,' manager Will Venable said. 'Just hope he comes out on the right side of this thing.' Bryce Wilson came on and was given all the time he needed to warm up. He allowed Pete Alonso's RBI double and walked Brett Baty before striking out Mark Vientos to end the game. The 30-year-old Castro has a 7.50 ERA in six appearances for Chicago this season. ___
San Francisco Chronicle
36 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Avoiding flight delays? These are the best and worst airlines at SFO
Picture this: You set the alarm early, haul your family to SFO and elbow your way through airport security — only to find your flight is delayed three hours. What was supposed to be a relaxing vacation in Maui has already become an ordeal. Disruption has long been a feature of air travel, and we all know what it's like to sit in a boarding area for hours, scarfing fast food and using your suitcase as a back rest. But there are ways to minimize the stress and inconvenience. To help travelers prepare, the Chronicle created a set of online tools that show where and when delays will most likely happen at Bay Area airports. Chronicle reporters analyzed data for more than 1.4 million flights that departed from four Northern California airports — SFO, Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento — between 2020 and 2024 to see when flights have historically experienced the most cancellations and delays. Only major airports served by multiple airlines were included. Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport was excluded because it has offered only a limited number of commercial airline flights in recent years. Using data provided by aviation tracking company FlightAware, the charts below also show how the airlines at SFO and other airports have performed over time, including percentages of flights that are delayed, delays of more than two hours and cancellations. The charts allow users to compare performance of major airlines among each other and at different Northern California airports. One way to assess an airline's performance is to compare it to other airlines operating at the same airport. An important thing to note is that many major airlines, including United, American, Delta and Alaska, use regional airlines such as SkyWest to provide parts of their service. Flights from regional carriers operate under names like United Express, American Eagle or Delta Connection — and are often all but invisible to customers booking flights — but are identified in FlightAware statistics by their operators' name and aren't included in the major airlines' statistics. Some regional carriers partner with multiple airlines, and some change their affiliations. Other major airlines, notably Southwest, operate all of their own flights. Among the most traveled airlines, Frontier Airlines had the highest percentage of delays among domestic airlines at SFO, with more than a quarter of its flights delayed. Southwest earned the dubious distinction of most cancellations at the busy airport. By contrast, Skywest and Delta had the lowest percentage of delayed flights and cancellations. American Airlines also performed well with the lowest cancellation rate at Oakland Airport, while Hawaiian Airlines had the fewest cancellations at Sacramento Airport. These frequently traveled, major domestic airlines had the highest percentage of delays and cancellations at each airport: SFO – Frontier (delays), Southwest (cancellations) Oakland – Frontier (delays), Jetblue (cancellations) San Jose – Jetblue (delays), Jetblue (cancellations) Sacramento – Jetblue (delays), Spirit (cancellations) Domestic airlines with the lowest percentage of delays at each airport were: Delays, which the aviation industry defines as flights that arrive more than 15 minutes late to their destination, account for the majority of disruptions. But significant delays — of at least an hour and 45 minutes — are becoming more common. During the peak of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the number of days of what the Federal Aviation Administration considers 'severe disruptions' plunged as travelers stayed out of the skies. In 2022, as air travel began to return to pre-pandemic levels, the number of severe disruptions surged at Northern California airports, far surpassing 2019. However, that trend did not continue in 2024: Severe disruptions fell at all California airports from 2023 to 2024. The median delays for the airports we analyzed ranged from 36 to 42 minutes. SFO had the longest median delay at 42 minutes while Oakland had the shortest at 36 minutes. In 2024, SFO was the most likely airport of the four to experience delays with 21% of flights delayed. Oakland and San Jose tied for least likely with close to 15% of flights delayed. Doug Yakel, airport spokesman, has said in the past that's because of SFO's location in a particularly fog-prone part of the Bay Area, and its configuration of two sets of parallel runways with 750 feet of separation. When visibility is poor, Federal Aviation Administration regulations cut the number of flights able to land from 60 an hour to 30, requiring arriving flights to be spaced out and metered. SFO is also the busiest of the Northern California airports — by far — with more departures than the other three airports combined in 2024. In just the Bay Area, SFO accounts for about two-thirds of the region's commercial air traffic, with San Jose and Oakland making up the other third. Nevertheless, said Yakel: 'Progress is being made' with the FAA implementing new procedures to manage parallel runways as well as advances in GPS technology that allow more arrivals during bad weather. 'We are seeing improvements,' Yakel said, citing a study based on U.S. Department of Transportation data that found just five airports in the U.S. had fewer delayed flights than SFO. Representatives from Frontier, Southwest, Allegiant and Spirit responded to requests for comment from The Chronicle. Spokespersons for JetBlue did not provide comment. A Frontier spokesperson said the airline is working to improve its dismal 2023 performance by employing a schedule that relies more on routing flights between two destinations than multiple-day trips. 'We were disappointed in our operational performance last year and have been gradually implementing a network redesign,' said Rob Harris, a Frontier spokesperson. 'When there are issues affecting the system such as air traffic control delays or weather which, in turn, drive flight delays and cancellations, out and back routings help decrease downline impacts and overall system recovery time. We are seeing some early promising results.' Spirit Airlines spokesperson Tommy Fletcher attributed most of its cancellations in Sacramento in 2023 — which made it that airport's leader in canceled flights — to 'factors outside of our control, including weather and air traffic control constraints.' But Spirit, he said, strives 'to do everything in our power to operate as closely to flight schedules as possible while safely transporting guests to their final destination.' Southwest cited its heavy presence in California, where it serves 13 airports, and said its schedule and network give it the flexibility to recover from delays and cancellations. Southwest suffered a massive system failure in December 2022. In addition to paying more than $600 million in compensation to inconvenienced passengers, according to the Department of Transportation, the airline has improved its technology for assigning and rescheduling crew members and increased the number of units for de-icing aircraft. United Airlines, SFO's largest carrier, had the fourth highest percentage of delays from the airport among major domestic airlines, outperforming Frontier, Southwest and Alaska. 'Our airline is built to run well and recover fast,' a spokesperson told The Chronicle in 2023, 'and we expect our operation to reflect that through the peak summer season.' Editor's note: A previous version of this story suggested that United Airlines has direct flights out of Oakland International Airport. That is no longer the case. About this tool Historical delay data from FlightAware shows flights that departed from the selected airport and arrived late to their destination. All data is from 2020-2024 unless otherwise noted. The aviation industry defines 'delayed flights' as flights that arrive more than 15 minutes late to their destination and 'delay minutes' as the amount of time that flights arrive after the 15 minute window. This means that a flight with a 15 minute delay arrived 30 minutes after its scheduled arrival time. United Airlines was filtered out of Oakland's data because these were flights diverted from neighboring airports, which caused them to be logged as delays at Oakland. United no longer flies directly out of Oakland. American Airlines also stopped flying out of Oakland in the summer of 2020, but their final year at the airport is still captured in our date range.
