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The Ku Klux Klan, post-partum depression and compassion course through “Amerikin”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

At the start of “Amerikin,” Jeff Browning greets his newborn son with a slew of swear words, some loving enthusiasm and more than a little TMI. He confesses to the wee fella that his mother might have a slow time embracing him. (“I’m a little worried about your mom, tell you the truth. She, uh … ain’t been herself since you came out.”)Once they’re back at the Browning home — where much of Chisa Hutchinson’s unsettling and riveting play (onstage at the Curious Theatre Company through April 15) unfurls — it becomes clear that Michelle Browning is struggling with post-partum depression. A lullaby she sings later in the play is wrenching for the dark lyrics she reworks.Michelle Browning (Candace Joice) in a post-partum hell separate from Jeff’s crisis. (Michael Ensminger, provided by Curious Theatre Company)Her despair is just one of the many things ailing the Brownings. Neighbor and friend Alma wanders over to the house to suggest gently to Jeff that he stop cal...

Millions in outside spending shapes Denver mayoral race — and it’s not always clear where the money is coming from

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

In the race to be Denver’s next mayor, millions of dollars is being spent by outside groups to support a handful of individual candidates — separating a vast field into haves and have-nots.Mike Johnston and Kelly Brough stand as the haves. In the most recent filings, the Johnston-backing Advancing Denver reported $1.4 million in contributions and the Brough-backing A Better Denver reported $913,000. The have-nots, meanwhile, have reported a combined total of $760,000 in contributions — but also have not listed individuals for the sources of money fueling their efforts.For Advancing Denver, those contributors include LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, hedge fund manager Steve Mandel and Kent Thiry, the former CEO of Denver-based dialysis provider DaVita. Hoffman, far and away the biggest contributor, gave nearly $780,000 to the committee while also posting to his social network about support for his friend, Johnston. Mandel is in for $250,000 so far and Thiry for $15...

Woman arrested after pursuit in Ventura County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

Authorities pursued a stolen vehicle out of Ventura County on Thursday night.The vehicle was reportedly taken from a liquor store in the Moorpark area. When the California Highway Patrol tried pulling the suspect over, the driver sped off, leading authorities on a pursuit.The vehicle was seen speeding through red lights before parking momentarily at a Ralph's grocery store before driving off again.A spike strip was thrown onto the vehicle's path on the 101 Freeway, puncturing the suspect’s tires. The driver slowed down and exited the freeway in Sherman Oaks. A successful PIT maneuver shortly afterward disabled the suspect’s vehicle.The driver, who appeared to be a female, exited the car and walked over to a sidewalk as authorities surrounded her, asking her to surrender.Authorities pursued a stolen vehicle out of Ventura County on March 23, 2023. (KTLA)Authorities pursued a stolen vehicle out of Ventura County on March 23, 2023. (KTLA)Authorities pursued a stolen vehicle out of Vent...

A new ballgame: SF Giants, Oakland A’s broadcast teams adjusting to pitch clock

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

It’s a whole new ballgame in the booth as well as on the field.Or more accurately, similar to the old ballgame.“We got our game back,” longtime Giants announcer Mike Krukow said.The pitch clock era begins in 2023, fostering a “get on with it” tempo that mandates 30 seconds between batters and either 20 or 15 seconds between pitches, with pitchers getting an extra five seconds with runners on base.Through two weeks of spring training, game times were down to two hours, 36 minutes from three hours, one minute a year ago.The pitch clock has changed not only changed the pace of play on the field, but how it’s delivered to the consumer on television and radio.To get an idea of how it’s going so far and what to expect, I talked with Krukow as well as NBC Sports California producer DeAulaire Louwerse and first-year A’s radio announcer Johnny Doskow and included comments from the Giants broadcasters Jon Miller and Duane Kuiper off recent appea...

Beverage and food distributor buys big Richmond industrial center

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

Elevated view of Richmond Distribution Center 3, a warehouse, industrial and logistics complex at 500 Pittsburg Avenue in Richmond. (Colliers, Ares Management)RICHMOND — A beverage and food distribution titan with a global reach has bought a huge Richmond industrial center for more than $100 million in a real estate deal that could bring more jobs to the East Bay.Illinois-based Reyes Holdings, acting through an affiliate, has bought a warehouse and logistics complex at 500 Pittsburg Avenue in Richmond, documents filed on March 3 with the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office show.The Reyes Holdings affiliate paid $140 million for the distribution center, the county records show.At this price, the transaction would appear to be one of the largest property purchases by dollar amount in the East Bay so far in 2023.The deal was arranged through brokers Todd Severson and Greig Lagomarsino of Colliers, a commercial real estate firm; and JLL, a commercial real estate firm....

Opinion: Access your brain? The creepy race to read workers’ minds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

Modern workers increasingly find companies no longer content to consider their résumés, cover letters and job performance. More and more, employers want to evaluate their brains.Businesses are screening prospective job candidates with tech-assisted cognitive and personality tests, deploying wearable technology to monitor brain activity on the job and using artificial intelligence to make decisions about hiring, promoting and firing people. The brain is becoming the ultimate workplace sorting hat — the technological version of the magical device that distributes young wizards among Hogwarts houses in the “Harry Potter” series.Companies touting technological tools to assess applicants’ brains promise to dramatically “increase your quality of hires” by measuring the “basic building blocks of the way we think and act.” They claim their tools can even decrease bias in hiring by “relying solely on cognitive ability.”But research has shown that such assessments can lead to racial dispariti...

Beethoven’s hair: How a San Jose State museum docent turned genetic researcher debunked a famous relic

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

SAN JOSE — Tristan Begg was an anthropology student at UC Santa Cruz and a Beethoven fanatic when he volunteered as a docent at San Jose State University’s Beethoven center in the summer of 2009.He would pull out the drawer holding a lock of hair and tell visitors, “This is real” and that it once was on the head of the greatest composer who ever lived, the one whose music changed Begg’s life when he heard the first notes of Moonlight Sonata on Christmas morning at age 17.“It was instantaneous. I was astounded. I’ve never heard anything like it,” he said. “It was an instant sort of obsession.”Now, 14 years later, Begg, a Ph.D student at the University of Cambridge, is the lead author on a genome research study that debunked the story he once told. The hair is a fake.The findings, published this week in the journal Current Biology, revealed new insights about the life and death of Ludwig van Beethoven. Five other locks of hair were authenticated, including another one rece...

Suspected of DUI, woman strikes, severely injures 11-year-old girl near Bay Area school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

A 32-year-old Fairfield woman jailed Thursday for an alleged DUI collision that severely injured an 11-year-old girl is scheduled for arraignment in the coming days in Solano County Superior Court.Elena Lindsey McGraw-Ogans was booked into Solano County Jail in the midafternoon on suspicion of DUI causing bodily injury, a felony; willful cruelty to a child, a misdemeanor; and driving without insurance, a violation of the Vehicle Code, according to jail records. She faces arraignment at 1:30 p.m. Monday.Fairfield police dispatchers began receiving calls at 8:30 a.m. about a child struck by a vehicle. Officers and firefighter/paramedics responded to the area of East Tabor and Blossom avenues, where the collision occurred, in front of Grange Middle School.The child, who was not identified because of her age, was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. The Solano County Coroner in the early afternoon confirmed the child was severely injured but still alive.“While...

Marin County landslide stabilizes, but significant work remains, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

A mudslide that severely damaged a Novato road and threatened utility lines along Highway 101 has stabilized, and work is underway to prepare for another potential storm next week, officials said Thursday.“The hillside is not actively sloughing,” said Battalion Chief Jeff Whittet of the Novato Fire Protection District. “It has significantly slowed but there is still movement because the ground is very saturated with all of the rain.”The incident Tuesday evening caused about 75 to 100 feet of a hillside to fall 20 feet. The slide caused significant damage to a 100-foot section of Redwood Boulevard near Buck Center Drive and has blocked access to Olompali State Historic Park indefinitely.A crew works to clear a fallen utility pole at the scene of a mud slide on Redwood Boulevard near Buck Center Drive in Novato on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. The slide also buckled part of the roadway. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal) “If you’ve ever seen photos of Loma Prieta earthquake, it re...

Opinion: VTA is spending $500 million to add 10 minutes to your commute

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:42 GMT

VTA is ready to spend $500 million of taxpayer money to connect a train station to San Jose Mineta International Airport, ignoring a second option that would cost one-tenth of that price. The plan is to connect San Jose’s Diridon Station to San Jose’s Mineta Airport. While both the airport and the Diridon Station are in San Jose, the two are separated by 4.1 miles. VTA’s proposal is to dig a four-mile tube under the city. This might make sense if it were the only option.It is not. Directly across the street from the airport is the Santa Clara Transit Station. For $40-to-$50 million, a connection from the Santa Clara station to the airport would require one undercrossing and a fleet of above-ground trolleys. Our group has timed the Santa Clara option and found that this solution would beat a commuters’ time to the airport by 10-15 minutes when compared to the Diridon option.With this $500 million option, Peninsula commuters would view Mineta airport as they whisked by and continued f...