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California lawmakers pass bill barring school book bans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:45:30 GMT

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign into law a bill barring public school districts from banning books and curriculum related to gender and racial diversity.Assembly Bill 1078 passed in the state Senate last week, largely along party lines, and now heads to Newsom's desk.The bill had passed overwhelmingly in the Assembly in May - at around the same time the issue came to a head with the Temecula Valley Unified School District’s vote to reject elementary school curriculum that mentioned Harvey Milk, California’s first openly gay elected official."My question is, why even mention a pedophile?" School Board President Joseph Komrosky said at the time.Newsom publicly blasted the Board’s vote and threatened to fine the district $1.5 million. Board members eventually relented and voted to adopt the curriculum.AB 1078, sponsored by Assemblyman Corey Jackson (D-Moreno) would financially penalize school boards that enact bans on books and education material related to Black, Lati...

Disney reveals dates for expanded D23 fan event

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:45:30 GMT

New changes, including an event name change and the utilization of a new venue, are coming to Disney’s D23 event, a biannual fan convention for all things Disney, slated to take place in Anaheim in 2024.The company announced that next year’s fan event will be an expanded version of the typical weekend long affair. Next year, D23 experiences will take place Aug. 4-11, starting with a special D23 Day at Angel Stadium, leading to the event’s official kickoff event at Disneyland on Aug. 8. The abandoned plans to bring another Disney theme park to California From Aug. 9-11, Disney fans can enjoy shopping, exhibits, panels, presentations and more at the Anaheim Convention Center and then travel to the Honda Center during the evening for larger presentations and panels ranging in topics from Disney theme parks to new movies.This is the first time the convention is using the Honda Center, an indoor sports and entertainment arena in Anaheim that can seat thousands of people depending on th...

Pixel Fold review: Google gets so much right!

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:45:30 GMT

Foldables make up just a small percentage of the overall smartphone market, but they are growing.Recently, I've been testing out the Google Pixel Fold, which is Google's first foldable and mixes aspects of both a phone and a tablet. While it's not perfect, it's a great start.The size is unique - it's like a passport, but heavier and thicker.Google Pixel Fold (Rich DeMuro)Google Pixel Fold (Rich DeMuro)The outer screen is 5.8 inches, while the unfolded inside screen is 7.6 inches. The device doesn’t open flat, and the crease is more prominent than on Samsung's foldables. You'll notice it more when using the device day to day, but it's not a dealbreaker.Compared to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5, which has a narrow outside screen, I find the shorter, wider outside screen on the Pixel Fold much more useful.I used the Pixel Fold almost exclusively on my recent trip to Berlin and found that it’s a versatile companion.Photos are incredible thanks to Google's unmatched AI processing, but ironic...

California Democrat Barbara Lee rips Gavin Newsom over Feinstein appointment comments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:45:30 GMT

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) comments that he would appoint a Black woman to be Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s replacement — but not someone running for the seat.Lee, who is Black, is running for the Senate in California. Feinstein is not running for reelection in 2024, but her health problems and absences from the Senate have raised questions about whether she'll complete her term.“I am troubled by the governor's remarks," Lee said in a Sunday statement. "The idea that a Black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless Black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election.""The perspective of Black women in the U.S. Senate is sorely needed — and needed for more than a few months. Governor Newsom knows this, which is why he made the pledge in the first place,” Lee added. "If the Governor intends to keep his promise and appoint a Black woman to t...

Worth The Hype? Chef Frankie Celenza Takes On L.A.’s Westside

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:45:30 GMT

Tastemade’s newest original series, Worth the Hype, hosted by Emmy award-winning chef Frankie Celenza is now streaming, taking viewers on a culinary road trip across the country. The first episode starts with a tour of some of the buzziest spots in L.A. Celenza visits the Instagrammable fritter shop Holey Grail Donuts, GTA for pizza, smash burger sensation Heavy Handed, and the often overlooked and underrated third-generation Mexican seafood restaurant, Casablanca, in Venice, famous for its calamari steaks, handmade flour tortillas and margarita cart since 1980.“I know the title seems like hype means now and new, but we’re not thinking about it that way at all,” the star of Tastemade’s popular Struggle Meals show tells L.A. Weekly over the phone from his Connecticut home. “We’re looking for a wide variety of restaurants. There are four spots in every episode, and we’re always looking for one traditional restaurant, one takeaway restaurant and one trendy one. Casablanca falls into th...

49ers’ Week 2 primer: What encore is in store against Rams?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:45:30 GMT

PITTSBURGH — Opening the season with back-to-back road wins is a feat Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers pulled off in 2019 and ’21.More of the same will be expected next Sunday when the 49ers visit the Los Angeles Rams. Opening this season with a 30-7 rout at Pittsburgh invoked memories of those 2019 and ’21 starts to deep playoff runs.Nick Bosa was a rookie on that 2019 team, and he called this win a great way “to propel us forward.”“You love to get a good start,” Bosa added. “We had five sacks today as a D-line, so Kris (Kocurek, the defensive line coach) was definitely happy. Drake (Jackson) broke out, which we were expecting. We just have so many players.“It’s fun to watch Aiyuk do his thing and Purdy shut some haters up. It’s nice to be on a really good team.”In 2019, the 49ers followed up a 31-17 opening win at Tampa Bay by posting a 41-17 rout in Week 2 at Cincinnati. In 2021, the 49ers also won their first two games on th...

A look back at Sept. 11, 2001 and the days that followed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:45:30 GMT

Now 22 years later, we are remembering the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the aftermath in the days after.You can find a tour of the Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum here.Sept. 11Before the attackHere is the promotional poster for the Observation Deck at the World Trade Center. The poster depicts the Twin Towers created from a collage of words of all the various different sites you can see from the Observation Deck. The Observation Deck was 107 stories, on top of South Tower. The elevator ride went a quarter-mile in 58 seconds. The towers had 22 restaurants and 60 retail establishments.At 1,377 feet, the Observation Deck’s outdoor viewing platform was the highest in the world at the time. On a clear day, one could see 45 miles in each direction. On average, the observation deck attracted 1.8 million visitors per year, or about 4,900 a day.Security screeningShortly after 7:35 a.m., hijackers Salem al-Hazmi, left, and Nawaf al-Hazmi clear security at Washington Dulles International ...

Q&A: Jenny Odell on how Bay Area landscapes inspired her new book ‘Saving Time’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:45:30 GMT

Oakland author, artist and former Stanford instructor Jenny Odell is perhaps best known for her 2019 best seller, “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy,” which was named one of the best books of the year by Time, The New Yorker, NPR and more.Her newest, “Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock” (Random House, $29), delivers its messages as a series of Bay Area road trip vignettes peppered with historical, contemporary and pop culture references. Drawing on a wide array of sources, from Aristotle to Netflix’s “I Think You Should Leave,” she traces how we came to think of time as money and how to find new ways of experiencing time — and what’s at stake if we don’t.Q: You talk about the Bay Area in such an intimate way, describing how different landscapes tell different stories about time — from geologic time to the I-880 commute. How did those landscapes shape you?A: It goes really far back for me. I’m from t...

Map: Fugitive Danelo Cavalcante seen 25 miles beyond search perimeter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:45:30 GMT

Just hours after Pennsylvania police expressed confidence that escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante was in a historic garden, he showed up outside an acquaintance’s home 25 miles from the search area.Cavalcante made visits Saturday night, Sept. 9, to the homes of two former co-workers. On Sunday morning, the van he is thought to have been driving was found abandoned.Cavalcante, 34, was recently sentenced to life for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend. He’s also a suspect in a killing in his home country of Brazil.The map above shows key sites in the search, which began shortly after his escape Aug. 31 from Chester County Prison, where he was awaiting transfer to state prison.1/ Aug. 31, Chester County Prison. Cavalcante escaped at 8:51 a.m. by climbing a wall in the exercise yard and getting over razor wire. His disappearance was discovered at 9:45 a.m.2-4/ Sightings at residences. About 40 hours after his escape, reports were received from a neighborhood a mile from the pri...

Photos: 9/11 remembrance at One World Trade Center

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:45:30 GMT

In gatherings across the country, Americans remembered the day nearly 3,000 people were killed in terrorist attacks striking the nation 22 years ago.Related ArticlesNational News | FBI won’t release records on reports of 5th 9/11 plane targeted National News | Bells toll as the US marks 22 years since 9/11, from ground zero to Alaska National News | 9/11, Flight 93 hometown heroes remembered 22 years later National News | Terrorism suspect who escaped from London prison is captured while riding a bike National News | Report: Insurgent attacks in Mali kill 49 civilians, 15 soldiers At One World Trade Center in New York City, Vice President Kamala Harris joined Mayor Eric Adams and other dignitaries for a remembrance ceremony on the National Sept. 11 Memorial plaza. Former mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Florida governor Ron DeSantis also made appearances.Instead of remarks being given by political figures thou...