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Crews battle 'city-block-sized' fire in South Los Angeles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Firefighters responded to a massive fire burning in the Central-Alameda neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday morning. The fire erupted around 3:25 a.m. and involved a "city-block-sized area" of structures in the 1500 block of East Vernon Avenue, according to an alert from the Los Angeles Fire Department. A fire burning in the Central-Alameda neighborhood is seen on Nov. 28, 2023. (Key News)Additional structures are threatened on all sides, the alert stated.Over 140 firefighters were assigned to the incident and are making good progress, the fire department stated at 4:30 a.m. Crews assisted residents who were asked to evacuate their homes during the firefight.One resident told KTLA that a neighbor woke them up as the fire was raging. “He hopped the fence, got on top of the roof and then he banged on our window,” the resident said. The neighbor told them there was a fire, so she woke up her husband and went outside and saw the flames threatening their home.“I just thank God that he s...

3.5 magnitude quake wakes up residents in Big Bear City

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Residents of the Big Bear City community in the San Bernardino Mountains were awakened in the middle of the night by a 3.5 magnitude earthquake. The temblor was reported at 11:59 p.m. Monday night and was located 2.6 miles from Big Bear City. The quake struck at a depth of nearly 5 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.A 3.5 magnitude earthquake struck near Big Bear City on Nov. 27, 2023. (USGS)Light shaking from the earthquake was felt as far as Palmdale to the northwest and Twentynine Palms to the southeast. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Monday night's temblor follows a 2.1 magnitude quake that hit the Big Bear area last Tuesday.

Wish Book: Paralyzed veterans learn life, work skills from competitive sports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Marine Corps veteran Kyle Hansel of Pacifica is making a belt for his mother, using lessons, skills, and a renewed faith in himself gained from competitive sports despite hands and many muscles that don’t work.His mom Teresa loves turquoise, so he’ll paint the bottom layer of the belt that blue-green hue, to gleam through decorative gaps he will laboriously cut in the top layer.The work, like many of the tasks in his life, requires “adaptive” techniques he has honed through wheelchair rugby, archery and other sports he competes in thanks to the local chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA).Kyle Hansel, right, from Pacifica, transfers from his regular wheelchair into a rugby wheelchair with the help of Chris Child, recreation therapy assistant, at the Palo Alto Veterans Association Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Wish Book for BAWPVA, Bay Area and Western Chapter Paralyzed Veterans of America. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News ...

Hey, Caltrans, you need to repaint some signs on I-680: Roadshow

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Q: At about 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night, I entered northbound Interstate 680 at Monument Boulevard in Concord. Luckily, I knew how to get to westbound Highway 4, because overhead signs were almost unreadable. Reflective paint on all the signs was worn off, to the point where some would have made no sense to a driver relying on them.I don’t know if the problem is more extensive than what I saw on that short stretch of 680. It was pretty alarming.— Gail Wiemann, RichmondA: I’ll forward your message to Caltrans.Q: Your column on illegal dumping reminded me that in the 1960s, illegal dumping and its consequences were made famous by a singer/songwriter, Arlo Guthrie, who documented the experience when he and a friend dumped garbage alongside a road and faced consequences. His famous song, “Alice’s Restaurant,” sold millions of copies.The incident Guthrie recounts in the song was reported in the Berkshire Eagle on Nov. 29, 1965. It describes the conviction of ...

NFC playoff picture: 49ers’ best chance at top seed is beating Eagles in Philly

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

The 49ers don’t have to beat the Eagles Sunday.There. It’s out there. Apologies to those who breathlessly anticipate the end of the 49ers world as they know it should they lose again at Lincoln Financial Field as they did in last year’s NFC Championship Game.It’s Week 13, so it’s getting serious. As regular-season games go, 49ers-Eagles is as good as it gets based on the whole Brock Purdy drama last Jan. 29.While the provincial prevailing notion is the 49ers would have gone to the Super Bowl had Haason Reddick been walled off and unable to rearrange the anatomy in Purdy’s elbow, I’m one of the few locally who thought the Eagles were the better team and got what they deserved.They were better on both sides of the line of scrimmage, and let’s face it, Reddick’s sack wasn’t a cheap shot. It was part of football. And taking out the other team’s quarterback with a legal play is brutal but fair game.Yet judging from what we...

Kaiser Permanente grabs empty San Jose land site in expansion quest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

SAN JOSE — Kaiser has bought a big chunk of San Jose land, paving the way for a possible expansion by the healthcare titan at the location — a deal that also jolts prior plans for an office project on the choice site.The land that Kaiser bought is located at 1601 Technology Drive in San Jose, a short distance from the interchange of State Route 87 and Skyport Drive.Kaiser Foundation Health Plan paid $43.5 million for the vacant land site, according to documents filed on Nov. 21 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office. Hudson Pacific Properties, acting through an affiliate, sold the land.The purchase also paves the way for a possible Kaiser expansion in the area.The just-bought land is next to a parcel that accommodates an existing Kaiser Permanente medical office building, Google Maps shows.The transaction serves as a reminder that economic conditions have deteriorated for office properties in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley during a time of rising vacancy ra...

Skelton: Schwarzenegger shows the value of an upbeat attitude

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to Sacramento recently and reminded us of a beneficial trait he possesses that is sorely lacking in today’s polarized politics: an upbeat attitude.There’s currently too much bellowing, blaming and belligerence — and hatred — to make democracy work productively the way the republic’s founders intended.True, it’s easier to be upbeat when you’re super rich and a global celebrity — one who has soared to the top in three competitive ventures: bodybuilding, movies and politics.Conversely, being upbeat and an eternal optimist throughout life surely is a major reason why Schwarzenegger, 76, rose to the top of the heap, accumulating stardom, wealth and power.It made him an extraordinarily interesting moderate Republican governor for seven years — not always successful, but constantly trying and bold.I was reminded of Schwarzenegger’s value to the political world when he came back to the sta...

Google new geothermal electricity project could be a milestone for clean energy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT | Associated PressAn advanced geothermal project has begun pumping carbon-free electricity onto the Nevada grid to power Google data centers there, Google announced Tuesday.Getting electrons onto the grid for the first time is a milestone many new energy companies never reach, said Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Google’s geothermal partner in the project, Houston-based Fervo Energy.“I think it will be big and it will continue to vault geothermal into a lot more prominence than it has been,” Latimer said in an interview.The International Energy Agency has long projected geothermal could be a serious solution to climate change. It said in a 2011 roadmap document that geothermal could reach some 3.5% of global electricity generation annually by 2050, avoiding almost 800 megatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.But that potential has been mostly unrealized up until now. Today’s announcement could mark a turning point.Fervo is using this first pilot to la...

Bay Area ‘mad’ crazy about holiday festival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Organizers will often say their upcoming event is better than ever, but due to recent weather reports, it’s hard to doubt Frank Malifrando.Malifrando is the co-founder of the annual Mad Hatter Holiday Festival in Vallejo, which is now in its 13th year. Although he’s put in work over the years to advertise the event in movie theaters, cafe bulletin boards and highway billboards, Malifrando is also optimistic this year’s event will be better thanks to Saturday’s weather forecast.Hardly any chance of rain.A year after the event was hindered and shortened due to a number of storms in Vallejo, the Mad Hatter is back with more than 60 parade entries after only having approximately 35 last year, according to Malinfrando.The parade will once again feature dancing groups, local schools and their bands, the Vallejo Fire Department, grand marshals the Tonga Twins, local dignitaries, nearly two-dozen stormtroopers, recently crowned Mrs. Vallejo, a Grinch, a church, a number of vehicles put toge...

IRS data: Marin town among most generous statewide

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:42 GMT

Marin County ranks high when it comes to generosity, according federal government data.Details on more than 1,400 California ZIP codes reported by the Internal Revenue Service shows that the most generous Californians live in Marin and other northern California communities.According to U.S. Census, Postal Service, IRS and other data compiled by UnitedStatesZIPCodes.org, Inverness residents in the 94937 ZIP code donated 8.64% of their adjusted gross income to charity — the fifth highest statewide.Other leading charitable donation figures in Marin included 2.74% of adjusted gross income in Greenbrae; 2.64% in Belvedere and Tiburon; 2.59% in Point Reyes Station; 2.51% in the 94901 ZIP code of San Rafael; 2.36% in Sausalito; 2.14% in Mill Valley; and 2.01% in Larkspur.RELATED: Who are the most generous Californians? We quantify your compassionThe top area in California for generosity was San Francisco’s 94104, where residents donated 17.64% of their adjusted gross income. Ranking second...