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Snow time 2023: Get ready for another epic season at Tahoe and beyond

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:04 GMT

So much new! Now that pandemic panic has faded, California ski resorts came off an epic year — one that stretched ski season to midsummer — with hopes for another on the way. The flakes are already flying, a big El Nino event is predicted to bring mega-precipitation during the coming season and resorts are gearing up for projected opening dates before Thanksgiving.Opening dates depend on Mother Nature, of course, along with ever-more- sophisticated snow-making operations. But go ahead: Wax and tune your boards and get ready to ride!Meanwhile, there’s non-ski news all around the lake, from the much anticipated rebranding of the former Embassy Suites/Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel in South Lake Tahoe to the Margaritaville lifestyle brand — a nod, of course, to the late Jimmy Buffett. The new Tahoe Blue Event Center down the road in Stateline, Nevada, is making a splash in the meetings and events world, hosting everything from lectures and conferences to concerts and even the Harl...

Here’s the first glimpse of who is spending money to oust Alameda County DA Pamela Price

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:04 GMT

OAKLAND — A mix of real estate moguls, technology executives, retirees and former Alameda County prosecutors are among the early backers of the effort to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, newly released campaign filings show.The financial backers of the recall were identified for the first time Wednesday as having donated to Save Alameda For Everyone, or SAFE, a group that formed over the summer to oust Price. The first-term district attorney was elected last year on a platform of reforming the East Bay’s criminal justice system and combatting the legacy of mass incarceration.The filings show SAFE raised more than $212,662 from July 1 to Sept. 30. SAFE is receiving big backing from a group called Reviving the Bay Area, which spent $48,000 on polling and in October donated $230,000. One of the group’s officers, Philip Dreyfuss, also was listed as a founding member SAFE, campaign records show.The largest individual donor to SAFE so far is Ryan R. ...

7 terrific Bay Area things to do this weekend, Nov. 3-5

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:04 GMT

Got your weekend plans yet? Well, you have come to the right place, as we have all kinds of fun ideas, from the return of a rom-com icon to great live shows and amazing pies and cookies.Just be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.1 WATCH: A new holiday classic?Alexander Payne’s new movie “The Holdover,” starring the delightfully irritable Paul Giamatti, has the feel of a new holiday classic. It tops our roundup of new shows and movies you should watch this weekend.The spiced hot chocolate pie by “Pie is Messy” cookbook author Rebecca Grasley incorporates Mexican hot chocolate flavors and is topped with espresso whipped cream. (Courtesy Anthony Tahlier/Ten Speed Press) 2 BAKE & SCARF: A slice (or two) of h...

BART paper tickets will no longer be accepted after Nov. 30, accelerating transit agency into digital era

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:04 GMT

Start dusting off the old paper BART tickets stuffed into the depths of your wallet, because the transit agency will stop accepting these blue-and-white magstripe passes at station fare gates on Nov. 30.The switch will finally usher in the full transition to all-in-one Clipper cards, which ​​are more durable, reloadable and accepted by every transit system in the Bay Area.Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are now advising riders to use up any remaining balances — stamped directly onto the passes — before the slots accepting paper tickets are officially covered on fare gates.Related ArticlesTransportation | Borenstein: Can Bay Area leaders meet the moment before it’s too late? Transportation | San Jose BART extension, beset by cost increases and timeline delays, gets $375 million in state funding Transportation | Letters: Recipe for disaster | Blinded by politics | GOP hypocrisy | Local options | Kill subsidies Transpor...

Photos: Oakland Ballet brings a Day of the Dead celebration to San Leandro school

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:04 GMT

As kindergartners to second-graders looked on, 10 dancers of the Oakland Ballet dressed as skeletons walked one by one through the door, moving stiff and zombielike,  to begin the show “Luna Mexicana,” a Day of the Dead ballet educational performance Wednesday at Yu Ming Charter School in San Leandro.Soon after, the kids were mesmerized by the music, dancing and colorful attire.“Luna Mexicana” is a story of a young girl who falls asleep by her family’s ofrenda. Then her relatives arrive dressed as skeletons and she spends the night dancing with different ancestors, to traditional Mexican music, folkloric and hip hop, said Graham Lustig, the Oakland Ballet artistic director.Oakland Ballet dancer Jazmine Quezada performs an excerpt of Luna Mexicana, a Day of the Dead theme ballet for K-2 students at Yu Ming Charter School in San Leandro, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Luna Mexicana is story of a young girl who falls asleep by her family’s ofrenda. Then her...

Homeless shelters break ground in Palo Alto, Richmond

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:04 GMT

Construction is underway on two new homeless shelters in the Bay Area — a prefabricated project in Palo Alto for more than 200 people and a tiny home village in Richmond for more than a dozen young adults.At a groundbreaking ceremony this week for the Palo Alto site, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian applauded the project planned for near the Baylands at 1237 San Antonio Road as a crucial step toward bringing more of the county’s nearly 10,000 homeless residents indoors.“We know interim shelter is only part of the solution, but we can’t allow folks to remain on our streets while they wait for permanent housing,” Simitian said in a statement.The facility, with 88 “modular” units resembling shipping containers, is expected to open by early 2025, officials said. It’s estimated to cost around $37 million, with $22 million coming from California’s $3.75 billion Homekey homeless housing program.The rest of the money is being p...

Wildfire in Canyon prompted evacuation warning overnight Thursday

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:04 GMT

CANYON, Calif. (KRON) -- A structure fire in the unincorporated Contra Costa County community of Canyon prompted an evacuation warning overnight Thursday as fire crews worked to contain the blaze.The structure fire was reported at 10:30 p.m., according to Moraga-Orinda Fire District Fire Marshal Jeff Isaacs, and the first crews at the scene found a structure fully engulfed in flames. The blaze spread to nearby vegetation, which turned into a half-acre to an acre of wildfire, Issacs said.Due to the threat of the wildfire, an evacuation warning was issued for Canyon residents, according to fire officials. The warning was rescinded as the fire came under control.No injuries have been reported. 3 hospitalized in Antioch Hobby Lobby hazmat situation Issacs said that downed power lines, narrow roads and limited water supplies initially hampered fire suppression efforts.A “significant dispatch” of Moraga-Orinda Fire District firefighters, assisted by Cal Fire, the East Bay Regional Park ...

Self-confessed Oakland drug dealer facing 20 years to life in prison

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:04 GMT

(BCN) -- A self-confessed drug dealer from Oakland is facing 20 years to life in prison for selling various illegal drugs in San Francisco, federal prosecutors said.Melvin Alexis Diaz Arteaga, 28, admitted he possessed and intended to sell 6.6 kilograms, or about 15 pounds, of fentanyl along with amounts of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California said in a statement Wednesday.Diaz was arrested outside an apartment in Berkeley on Nov. 16, 2022. According to his plea agreement, which was accepted on Oct. 26, Diaz admitted using the same Berkeley apartment to make and store large amounts of drugs for sale in the Tenderloin district, among other areas. Wildfire in Canyon prompted evacuation warning overnight Thursday Prosecutors said more than $50,000 in cash was seized by officers on the night of his arrest, including nearly $42,000 found in his bedroom. Diaz admitted he got the money from drug ...

Kathy Hochul’s Israel Trip Bankrolled by Group Funding Illegal Settlements

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:04 GMT

After her “solidarity mission” following the October 7 Hamas surprise attack, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul initially declined to say who covered the cost for the journey to Israel. Her administration would only say it was a “nonprofit that works with the Jewish community.”Last week, Hochul’s office relented, telling reporters that the funder was the UJA-Federation of New York, a Jewish philanthropy that has supported dozens of similar trips for elected officials, including, recently, New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Citing a delay in a state ethics office review, Hochul’s office said it would cover the $12,000 cost after all. UJA-Federation of New York belongs to a sprawling network of tax-exempt charities under the umbrella of the Jewish Federations of North America, or JFNA. In addition to funding Jewish community groups, federation chapters have also been accused of sending millions in tax-exempt dollars to organizations that support Israel’s illegal settlement program in the o...

Stock market today: Wall Street keeps climbing on hopes for halt to rate hikes, joining global rally

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:04 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is tacking more gains onto its rally from the day before on hopes the Federal Reserve may finally be done with its market-crunching hikes to interest rates. The S&P 500 was 0.9% higher Thursday. The Dow was up 212 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% higher. Stocks around the world rallied after the Federal Reserve late Wednesday hinted that a recent jump in Treasury yields may be acting like a rate-hike substitute. The 10-year yield fell further Thursday, releasing pressure that had built on Wall Street. Reports on the U.S. economy also offered hope for momentum pulling down on inflation. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.(AP) — Wall Street pointed toward early gains Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated it may not need to pump the brakes any harder on the economy. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.4% before the bell and the S&P 500 ticked 0.6% higher.Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesda...