SANTA CLARA — The 49ers finished out the NFL Draft’s second round Friday night by swinging a trade — not involving one of their heralded wide receivers — before drafting defensive back Rendardo Green. Their third-round pick is slated for the 94th-overall slot, with six slots ensuing before a break until Saturday’s final rounds. A run on offensive tackles presumably prompted the 49ers to slide the No. 63 spot to the Kansas City Chiefs, thus moving the Niners down one slot for Florida State’s Green. As part of that deal, the 49ers acquired a fifth-round pick (No. 173 overall) and sent a sixth-ro ..read more

SAN FRANCISCO – Standing near the first base line on a blustery Friday afternoon and across from the Giants dugout that Pirates catcher Joey Bart intermittently called home for four seasons, the former top pick recalled the whirlwind experience of being traded in April. Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi “called me, and I was obviously excited to get to Pittsburgh and meet these guys, but at the same time, it’s just different,” Bart said. “You’ve been somewhere for so long and things happen so fast that right now, it’s about getting caught up.” Bart, 27, said he had a “weird ..read more

By Tara Copp | Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine has sidelined U.S.-provided Abrams M1A1 battle tanks for now in its fight against Russia, in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or coming under attack, two U.S. military officials told The Associated Press. The U.S. agreed to send 31 Abrams to Ukraine in January 2023 after an aggressive monthslong campaign by Kyiv arguing that the tanks, which cost about $10 million apiece, were vital to its ability to breach Russian lines. But the battlefield has changed substantially sinc ..read more

By Jocelyn Noveck | Associated Press NEW YORK — #MeToo founder Tarana Burke has heard it before. Every time there’s a legal setback, the movement is declared dead in the water. A legal success, and presto, it’s alive again. So Burke, who nearly two decades ago coined the phrase “Me too” from her work with sexual assault survivors, found herself again declaring after New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction: The #MeToo reckoning is greater than any court case. It’s still there, and it’s working. The most obvious proof, Burke said: “Ten years ago we ..read more

Mystery, sniping and challenged ballots — all swirl around the extraordinary recount in the Congressional District 16 race as it drags into its third week. Who will emerge the victor — if anyone — between Assemblymember Evan Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian who are in a dead heat for second place? There may be no hanging chads in this ballot counting, but the much awaited outcome is still very much unknown. On April 15, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties began the ambitious task of recounting the more than 182,000 votes cast in the March primary race to replace retiring U.S ..read more

By Colleen Slevin and Matthew Brown | Associated Press BRIGHTON, Colo. — A former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a powerful sedative avoided prison and was sentenced to 14 months in jail and probation on Friday in the Black man’s killing that helped fuel the 2020 racial injustice protests. Jeremy Cooper had faced up to three years in prison after being found guilty in a jury trial last year of criminally negligent homicide. He administered a dose of ketamine to McClain, 23, who had been forcibly restrained after police stopped him as the massage therapist was walking home in a Denv ..read more

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Alameda County recall is a waste of money Re: “DA Price to face recall election” (Page A1, April 17). The current situation of increased crime, especially retail theft, is not the fault of any of the programs that Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price has initiated. The Save Alameda for Everyone Recall Campaign would have us believe that lenient policies in the DA’s office have led to increased crime. A handful of wealthy people in real estate and the financial industry hired a professional signature-gathe ..read more

By Josh Funk and Heather Hollingsworth | Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. — A tornado plowed through suburban Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday afternoon, damaging hundreds of homes and other structures as the twister tore for miles along farmland and into subdivisions. Injuries were reported but it wasn’t yet clear if anyone was killed in the storm. Multiple tornadoes were reported in Nebraska but the most destructive storm moved from a largely rural area into suburbs northwest of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people. Photos on social media showed heavily damaged homes and shredded trees. Video showed homes ..read more

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Take the pressure off school competition Re: “Schools’ shift from community to competition harms our youth” (Page A6, April 25). I wholeheartedly agree with this article’s main points, but it’s ironic that one of the authors worked at Stanford, a main offender in the selectivity rat race. Authors from hyper-selective colleges tend to minimize the role of their admissions policies in causing the problem and point the finger at K-12 schools instead. That’s disingenuous at best. Competition in itself is not necessari ..read more

SANTA CLARA — Ricky Pearsall Sr. clutched an official NFL football in his right arm, an initial memento from the 49ers upon his son’s arrival Friday at Levi’s Stadium as this year’s first-round draft pick. “This came from the locker room,” beamed the proud father. “They said, ‘Go ahead, take it.’ I said, ‘All right, a little present for Dad.’ ” That Wilson football is supersized compared to what father and son played catch with 20 years ago: Skittles. “I have a funny story about that,” the elder Pearsall told this news organization after his son’s media meet-and-greet. “So, he was pretty young ..read more