Friday Afternoon Update: Oakland A’s Ditch California, Court Strikes Down Local Gas Stove Ban, And More

This article is adapted from today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click here.

Even The Oakland A’s Are Leading California

The Oakland Athletics, one of the MLB’s most iconic franchises, announced this week that it has purchased land in Las Vegas, Nevada, after searching and failing to find land for a new stadium in Oakland.

Oakland’s team president Dave Kaval said in a statement that “Oakland has been a great home for us for over 50 years, but we really need this 20-year saga completed and we feel there’s a path here in Southern Nevada.” The move has the full support of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, while Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao strongly condemned the decision. The A’s lease at its current stadium ends after the 2024 season.

Twitter Begins Removing Blue Checkmarks

Twitter began removing blue check marks Thursday from users who don’t pay for them, including some very high-profile users. Twitter had about 300,000 verified users under the original blue-check system — many of them journalists, athletes, and public figures. But late Thursday morning, many of the checks began disappearing from these users’ profiles.

Woman Runs Marathon Five Months After Waking From Coma

A 35-year-old woman from Oklahoma completed the Boston Marathon on Monday just five months after waking from a coma. Rachel Foster suffered a nearly fatal scooter accident in November, resulting in a 10-day coma. Foster reportedly woke up just one day before doctors planned to pull the plug on her life support. Foster had to relearn basic motor skills, including relearning to walk, but was able to run in time for the April marathon event.

“It really was a miracle. I should not be alive right now, and I definitely should not be running a marathon,” she said.

Federal Court Overturns California City’s Ban On Gas Stove

A federal appeals court has overturned a California city’s first-in-the-nation ban on natural gas in new construction. The court on Monday agreed with restaurant owners who argued the city bypassed federal energy regulations when it approved the ordinance. With some exceptions, the 2020 measure sought to ban new residential and commercial buildings from installing natural gas piping in favor of electrical lines.

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Gathering Of Kyles In Kyle, Texas, Could Break Record

And, the city of Kyle, Texas, is hoping to break the Guinness World Record for the largest same-name gathering. Organizers are calling all Kyles to the city on Sunday, May 21. Reportedly, there just needs to be more than 2,325 Kyles in Kyle at 4:00 p.m. that day. The same-name record has been held since 2017 by an event in Bosnia with a total of 2,325 participants named Ivan.