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Bay Area arts: 11 cool festivals and shows to take in this weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:16 GMT

From a new “Soul Train” musical to a gaggle of fairs and festivals and a symphony of animals sounds, there is a lot of great stuff to see and do in the Bay Area this weekend and beyond. Here’s a partial roundup.Broadway-bound ‘Hippest Trip’ gets hopping.As the story goes, radio DJ and music impresario Don Cornelius was irate at the lack of Black music artists on television in the late 1960s. So he decided to do something about it. The result was “Soul Train,” a sort of “American Grandstand” for the mostly Black fans of contemporary soul and R&B music, which debuted on TV in 1971 and became one of the most successful shows in broadcast history, while changing the American pop culture landscape forever.The story behind “Soul Train,” the impact it made by introducing African American music to mainstream America and the personalities and stars it created is covered in a world premiere musical, “Hippest Trip R...

Three wounded by shooting during 50-block chase from Richmond to El Cerrito

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:16 GMT

Three people were expected to recover after being shot by suspects in a vehicle that fired gunshots at them over the course of 50 blocks in Richmond and El Cerrito, police said.The approximately 10-minute drama started Sunday about 10:10 p.m., according to a statement from El Cerrito police. The three gunshot victims all went by ambulance to a hospital; police said they will recover.El Cerrito police said they are asking residents and businesses on Macdonald Avenue to review their surveillance cameras for any potential clues. They also asked residents on Mono Avenue to do the same thing and emphasized those cameras may have picked up a vehicle fleeing from the area.Police said the vehicle with the suspects was described as a black four-door crossover sedan.According to police, the suspects were in that vehicle and began chasing the victims, who also were in a vehicle. That chase started near the intersection of Macdonald Avenue and 1st Street in Richmond and went east for at least 5...

Missing Santa Ana hiker found dead in Sierra Nevada; wife saw his tracking dot stop moving

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:16 GMT

A California man who went missing on a Sierra Nevada backpacking trip was found dead, apparently having fallen on a rocky slope.Stephen Bloor, 57, of Santa Ana, was reported missing by his wife, who became concerned when his GPS tracking device remained in one place for hours, the Mono County sheriff’s office said.Bloor had set out on the morning of Friday, Aug. 18, from Devils Postpile, near Mammoth Lakes, on what was intended to be a solo hike to the Lake Tahoe area, about 180 miles.He reportedly told other hikers on the John Muir Trail that he planned to spend the first night at Garnet Lake, a 10-mile hike from Devils Postpile — but in his last contact with his wife, around 6 p.m., he had apparently left the main trail and was near Iceberg Lake, at 10,000 feet elevation and 3 miles southwest of Garnet.A report from the Mono County sheriff’s office said his wife was unable to reach him by phone or through his satellite communication device after that, and the location transmitted ...

Oakland money service business operators charged with laundering thousands, as feds signal their intent to target drug traffickers’ proceeds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:16 GMT

OAKLAND — In a sign that federal prosecutors in the Bay Area are targeting not just fentanyl traffickings but the swaths of cash it generates, the owners of a local money service business have been charged with laundering funds to “high risk drug trafficking areas” in Central America, court records show.Silvana Jorge de Oliveira and Jose Luis Garcia, operators of Envios Express in Oakland, have been indicted on a charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Federal prosecutors say they have evidence that the couple illegally $136,000 for one unidentified co-conspirator in a single month in 2020, by transferring funds to people in Mexico and Honduras.The indictment alleges that Oliveira and Garcia broke regulations under the Bank Secrecy Act requiring operators of money transfer businesses to flag suspicious transfers and require certain information and identification for transfers totaling more than $3,000. Prosecutors also say that a confidential informant was...

Third Southern California school board OKs policy to tell parents if students are transgender

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:16 GMT

The Temecula Valley school board voted early Wednesday, Aug. 23, to approve a policy to notify parents if their students are transgender, becoming the latest Southern California district to do so.The 3-2 vote came after midnight, capping a meeting that began Tuesday night, Aug. 22.The board’s conservative Christian majority — Joseph Komrosky, Jen Wiersma and Danny Gonzalez — voted yes. Trustees Steven Schwartz and Allison Barclay voted no.Like earlier sessions across the region, it was another crowded, contentious, school board meeting. By 5 p.m., 50 to 100 people waited in the parking lot outside the Temecula Valley Unified School District office and the crowd gradually grew. Half a dozen sheriff’s deputies looked on.Most of the crowd was divided into two groups. Those with rainbow pride flags and clothing were scattered across one. Those holding American flags, “Protect Family Bonds” signs and “Leave Our Kids Alone” T-shirts were mixed into the other.Several people said entry tick...

Business jet crash in Russia kills 10; authorities say mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on passenger list

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:16 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — A business jet crash in Russia kills 10, and mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on passenger list, authorities say.According to an Associated Press profile of him, “Once a low-profile businessman who benefited from having President Vladimir Putin as a powerful patron, Yevgeny Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight with Russia’s war in Ukraine.”In June, a challenge to Putin “fizzled out after the rebellious mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow abruptly reached a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and sounded the retreat.Related ArticlesWorld News | Letters: In-depth coverage | Safeway’s concern | California Conference | Flow trail | Solar squeeze | Ukraine slaughter World News | Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into the moon, ending its bid to reach the lunar south pole World News | The Netherlands and Denmark will give F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, the Dutch prime m...

Seventeen years for Bay Area man who brutalized elderly couple with a butcher knife

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:16 GMT

A Vallejo man who attacked an elderly couple with a butcher knife last year, hacking off an 84-year-old’s finger as she tried to defend herself, was sentenced to 17 years in prison Tuesday.Judge Robert Bowers lamented recent changes to California law that made this the maximum sentence he could hand down for 35-year-old Juan Lopez-Garcia’s two charges of attempted murder and one charge of mayhem.“What’s done is done,” Bowers told attorneys and the shackled Lopez-Garcia, who listened quietly through an interpreter. “From this court’s perspective, I feel like under these circumstances and these facts, I would give him a lot more time. But I can’t.”Lopez-Garcia had been renting a room from 76-year-old Luis Lopez and 84-year-old Delfina Lopez when he fell behind on his rent. The couple’s daughter, Annette Delacruz, said her parents were eating breakfast the morning of Sept. 19 when Lopez-Garcia exited his room with a knife.“(He) attacked my dad from the back and hit directly onto his he...

Brentwood at-risk teen found after being reported missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:16 GMT

(KRON) -- The Brentwood Police Department announced they have found a missing at-risk teenage boy. The boy was reported missing Tuesday afternoon.Marcus Velasquez, 15, was last seen leaving his home on the 400 block of Fremont Peak Drive at about 4 p.m. In an update from Brentwood police at 11:12 p.m., authorities said that he had been found safely."Marcus has been located and he is safe," Brentwood Police Department posted to Facebook. Remains found near Castle Rock State Park were Katie Schneider’s, police confirm He was considered at-risk because he is on the autism spectrum and has other health issues, Brentwood police said.

Compromise on long-delayed state budget could be finalized this week, top Virginia lawmakers say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:16 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A compromise deal on a state budget is likely to be reached in the next few days, a bipartisan group of Virginia lawmakers who have been leading this year’s drawn-out negotiations said Wednesday. “I’m quite sure we’re going to have a deal,” said Democratic Sen. Janet Howell. “Probably by the end of this week.”Her Republican counterpart, Del. Barry Knight, agreed. “We’re all working as hard as we can on that. Nobody’s stalling anybody,” he said.Knight, Howell and Howell’s Senate Finance and Appropriations co-chair, George Barker, spoke with reporters after a joint meeting of their respective committees in Richmond. They declined to share the framework of the potential agreement or discuss the remaining sticking points in detail but insisted a deal was imminent. Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signaled that he’s open to a compromise plan that would include one-time taxpayer rebates but not the permanent tax cuts he’s b...

Urban Outfitters, Apellis rise; Foot Locker, Peloton Interactive fall, Wednesday, 8/23/2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:36:16 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that are trading heavily or have substantial price changes Wednesday:Foot Locker Inc. (FL), down $7.07 to $16.13.The footwear and clothing retailer slashed its earnings and sales forecast for the year.Advance Auto Parts Inc. (AAP), down 23 cents to $67.11.The auto parts retailer said Shane O’Kelly will succeed Tom Greco as CEO in September.Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN), up 71 cents to $34.80.The clothing and accessories retailer reported strong second-quarter financial results.Peloton Interactive Inc. (PTON), down $1.68 to $5.31.The exercise bike and treadmill company gave investors a weak sales forecast for the current quarter.Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (APLS), up $9.64 to $40.40.The biopharmaceutical company gave investors an encouraging update on rare safety issues with its eye condition treatment Syfovre.Driven Brands Holdings Inc. (DRVN), up 42 cents to $14.78.The automotive services company announced a $50 million stock buyback plan.Abercrombie & Fi...