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They said it: Steering the narrative

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

“We are going to try to leak it tomorrow to take the wind out of Gillmor’s sails.”— San Francisco 49ers Communications Director Ellie Caple, in an Oct. 6 text message to team researcher Tim Hoekstra on leaking a Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report that echoed Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor’s criticism of team influence over officials in the city where the NFL team plays. 

In Alameda County’s Cherryland, environmental injustices come in many forms

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Claudia Canchola’s apartment in Cherryland should have been a place of comfort. She envisioned it as a space where she could cook meals for her husband and three young children, spend time together as a family and create a home.But the shiny promise of Cherryland’s name was lost in the details. This 1.2-square-mile pocket of Alameda County, bordered by three interstates and bisected by a railroad track, has a population of 15,808 and some of the county’s most worrisome health indicators. Asthma rates are high: in the 89th percentile. It’s an area defined in part by its geography, situated amid the toxic emissions from major thoroughfares.The area also has other challenges: more than 1 in 10 residents live in poverty, 47% have no education beyond high school, and only about a quarter of them live within walking distance of a supermarket.Claudia Canchola says there are some issues that need to be repaired like the electric stove, sink and loud noises coming from a wa...

Berkeley awarded $5.1 million to study plan for revitalizing its pier with ferry service

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

The Berkeley Marina’s historic pier has remained abandoned, crumbling and fenced off for the nearly eight years since it closed amid deteriorating concrete and corroded rebar from years of weathering by San Francisco Bay’s breaking salt water waves.Now a $5.1 million grant from local transit officials will help the city take another step to reopening and expanding the structure built directly across from the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1920s. The grant will fund critical state and federal environmental reviews of a $121 million restoration project.In addition to tackling desperately needed pier repairs, the project will also bring a large-scale passenger ferry service to the marina — nearly a century after plans to ferry commuters by boat never materialized.The new grant — which will fund the project’s design, environmental review and engineering work — was approved on Thursday by the 22-member Alameda County Transportation Commission that represents the ...

Castroville vs. Coachella: Battle heats up to grow the perfect California artichoke

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

CASTROVILLE – Quietly, over the last two decades, the beloved California artichoke has undergone a radical transformation.It’s not always easy to see from the outside – a studied eye can spot it – but an ambitious program to produce high-yielding, year-round artichokes has altered the flavor, color, texture and even the shape of them.This revolution has uprooted thousands of acres of heirloom artichokes across Castroville — the “Artichoke Center of the World” — and replaced them with hybrids. Now, it’s pitting technology against tradition and playing out at farm stands and on dinner tables across the country.The new varieties are cheaper to grow, have a longer shelf life and resist diseases, said Steven Fennimore, a UC Davis plant science professor.But what about flavor?“You can argue about taste all day,” he said, “but I won’t get into that.”A annual variety of artichoke at Ocean Mist Farms, left, and an heirloom perennial artichoke at Pezzini Farms in...

Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame: 49ers’ Patrick Willis adds another honor on path to Canton

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Singletary’s passionate speech came to an impactful pause while he described Patrick Willis, a former star 49ers linebacker Singletary helped groom.Willis was taking a rightful spot amid Thursday night’s Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame enshrinement, and Singletary’s thoughts drifted toward the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.“I thought for sure he’d be in the (Pro Football) Hall of Fame this year. There’s no reason why … I won’t even go there,” Singletary said with a sigh to the audience of nearly 1,000 at a downtown San Francisco hotel.Asked during the ceremony to expand on that, Singletary succinctly answered that Willis should have been a first-ballot entrant to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020, five years after Willis’ award-laden 49ers career ended due to toe injuries.Lee Posey, 11, left, shakes hands with Patrick Willis while standing with his father Buster Posey during media interviews before the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame ceremony at ...

State Farm no longer offering home insurance in California

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

(The Hill) – State Farm will no longer offer home and property insurance to new customers in California starting Saturday, the company said in a press release.The insurance company pointed to “historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure, and a challenging reinsurance market” for its decision, making particular note of the risk posed by the state’s frequent wildfires.“We take seriously our responsibility to manage risk,” State Farm said. “We recognize the Governor’s administration, legislators, and the California Department of Insurance (CDI) for their wildfire loss mitigation efforts.“However, it’s necessary to take these actions now to improve the company’s financial strength,” it added.State Farm said that it will continue to serve existing customers in the state and that personal auto insurance would not be impacted.There were 7,490 wildfires in California in 2022 that burned more than 360,000 acres, which Cal Fire described ...

Shenandoah adds 1,000-acre Tanners Ridge woodlands, Naked Creek to its park land

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Luke Lukert reports on the addition of Tanners Ridge to Shenandoah National Park. $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); Shenandoah National Park is one of many historic areas of Virginia. (Courtesy National Park Service)Shenandoah National Park in Virginia will be about 1,000 acres bigger on your next visit.The park officially added the Tanners Ridge land area in Page County and the waters of Naked Creek...

3 boats catch on fire at Columbia Island Marina overnight

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Three boats were damaged by a fire at Columbia Island Marina early Sunday, according to D.C.-area officials.D.C. Fire and EMS officials said they received a call at around 12:30 a.m. about a fire at the marina.Update Columbia Island Marina. 3 vessels well involved. DC Fireboats working in unified command with @ArlingtonVaFD land units have extinguished all visible fire. No injuries reported. #DCsBravest pic.twitter.com/xskmFhgDB1— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) May 28, 2023D.C. firefighters worked with Arlington’s fire department to extinguish the flames before it spread to any other boats.There were no injuries, according to fire officials.Foam was used to put out the fire which was a result of flammable liquid burning on the surface of the water.Authorities did not say exactly what started the fire, the cost of the damage involved or if the boats had any occupants when the fire started.Source

More businesses require teens to be chaperoned by adults, curbing their independence

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) — Jennifer Sepulveda used to drop off her 14-year-old son, Jorden, at the local mall on a Friday or Saturday night, where he would catch a movie with his friends and then hang out afterwards at the food court or elsewhere.Not anymore. Starting April 18, Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey — the second largest mall in the state — is requiring anyone under 18 years old to be accompanied by a chaperone at least 21 or older on Fridays and Saturdays after 5 p.m. The move, according to the mall, follows “an increase in disruptive behavior by a small minority of younger visitors.” That included a reported brawl in the food court last year and a fight in March that brought swarms of policemen to the center but ended up being a smaller altercation than initially reported.Sepulveda of Passaic, New Jersey said she was fine with the new policy.“On Friday and Saturdays, it’s just been a madhouse,” she said on a recent Friday night while shopping for Mother...

Nintendo mural brightens up Hagerstown street

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — Just to the side of South Cannon Avenue in Hagerstown, a little ways down from the Sheetz on East Washington Street, sits a garage.The rectangular garage has a charcoal gray-colored roof.Recently, it has begun to attract attention, not because it is a garage, but rather because of what is painted on its side: A mural portraying various Nintendo characters from the Mario video game and movie franchises. Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Toad, Koopa Troopa. They’re all there.Clayton Marquiss, who owns the house with the small garage, commissioned the mural.Understanding South Cannon’s history of hosting some of Hagerstown’s homeless population, Marquiss wanted to brighten up the area and recognized the need to bolster the city’s art scene.“I think (Hagerstown’s) kind of lacking in that department in many areas compared to other local towns near us,” Marquiss said. “I like Mario and I like the characters on it and I also like how much color was in...