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Seth McFarlane, Kristin Chenoweth, Spencer Pratt offer up items for WGA online auction

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:32 GMT

The Writers Guild of America is hosting an online auction called the WGARAGE Sale. One of the many items up for grabs is a "crystal consultation" with reality television star Spencer Pratt. "The Hills" star said he'll send the top bidder the "perfect gem" after the consultation. Pratt is also the owner of Pratt Daddy Crystals. Some other standout items include a WGA strike sign that has been signed by "Family Guy" creator and actor Seth McFarlane. The sign features the show's characters Stewie and Brian.Photo: wgaragesale.orgYou can also bid for a "This is Us" private Zoom watch party, a chance for Broadway icon Kristen Chenoweth to sing "Happy Birthday" to you, a Neptune High School varsity jacket from the series "Veronica Mars," and more. Photo: wgaragesale.orgBids can be placed on the items until Aug. 6.The 2023 strike auction will give 100% of the proceeds to the Entertainment Community Fund, which is helping financially support entertainment industry workers during the strike. ...

Girls Night Out? Go Coucou and Get Your Goat

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:32 GMT

Even if you can’t make it to Spain, France, or the rolling hills of Tuscany this summer, there are plenty of escapes for a girl’s night out in L.A. to make you feel like you’re on vacation. Whether it’s sharing plates or your deepest secrets, Coucou, The Girl & The Goat and Flor y Solera are all a girl’s best friend for a night out.The lively new Spanish tapas bar in the Los Angeles Arts District, Flor y Solera is the newest restaurant from Factory Place Hospitality Group, with a menu inspired by Spain’s 17 regions. Helmed by Catalan-born Chef Mònica Angelats and Beverage Director Francine Diamond-Ferdinandi, the menu features sharable tapas, mains and desserts alongside a standalone sherry bar. It’s the holy grail for tempranillo fans, stocking an exclusive variety of the smooth reds. The Andalusian fortified wine is offered by the glass, flight or with special tapas pairings.Dip into a dainty and traditional Spanish gazpacho with garlic and almonds from the tapas menu, a potat...

Q&A: Paisley Vintage curates thrift finds for Berkeley and beyond

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:32 GMT

Rifling through clothes hangers to find secondhand ’90s t-shirts, classic Levi’s jorts, heavy-duty military jackets and cozy grandma sweaters can often be a shot in the dark.So when Michael and Kevin Dong — now 26 and 27, respectively — opened up Paisley Vintage in downtown Berkeley in August 2021, they wanted to make the odds of a successful thrift less like getting lucky at the casino and more like a curated shopping experience.Despite coinciding with the ongoing decline of brick-and-mortar retail stores after the pandemic, the brothers, who grew up near Concord and are currently living in Oakland, transformed a years-long hobby into a profitable day job — largely thanks to a dual presence in online shops like Depop, eBay and Poshmark.As Paisley Vintage rapidly approaches its second anniversary of being open for business at 2181 Bancroft Way, just one block west of UC Berkeley’s campus, Michael Dong reflects on the business’ beginnings, how tech has b...

Antioch will outsource cleanup of homeless encampments

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:32 GMT

Antioch has agreed to contract out its cleanup of homeless encampments at a cost of about $450,000 a year — or more than $2.3 million — for the next five years.The city’s public works department had taken on the role for the last several years with the police code enforcement officers first going on site to ask the unhoused residents to move from city property and right-of-ways.But in November of last year, the Antioch Public Works Union asked the city to take encampment cleanups off their plate so they can get back to doing what they were hired to do – provide maintenance to Antioch’s roads, parks, marina, open spaces, water and sewer lines and flood control areas.“The time and resources dedicated to these cleanups prevents staff from completing their regularly scheduled and sometimes state-mandated maintenance work,” Acting Public Works Director Scott Buenting told the council this week. “Contracting out homeless encampment cleanups will help free up city staff t...

Denver cop charged with assault of Northern California man in body-slam incident on Nuggets NBA Finals victory night

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:32 GMT

Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced Thursday that she has filed a criminal charge of assault against a Denver police officer caught on video tackling a man outside a downtown bar where he was working, uniformed but off-duty, the night of the Denver Nuggets NBA Finals victory.Police officer Adam Glasby, 39, has been charged with one felony count of second-degree assault that led to serious bodily injury in connection with the alleged altercation early on June 13.He and another Denver Police Department officer were working off-duty at the Hayter’s & Co. bar at 1920 Blake St. when they saw men fighting outside the bar. Trying to break up the fight, Glasby pulled one of the men away from the others and slammed him to the pavement, leaving him unconscious, according to a district attorney news release.Glasby stayed with the victim — Elijah Smith, 26, from Roseville, Calif. — and tried to help him. When the victim got up about two minutes later, friends walked him away, pol...

$2K worth of merchandise stolen from Children's Place in Brentwood, suspects arrested

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:32 GMT

(KRON) – Two people were arrested on Wednesday for stealing over two thousand dollars worth of clothes from a Children's Place store in Brentwood.Around 1 p.m., an officer responded to the store and located a car attempting to flee the scene. The officer pulled over the suspects, Paulosha Glasper, 30, and Amoni Ponnellfontain, 25, both from Antioch. Photo: Brentwood PDPhoto: Brentwood PDPhoto: Brentwood PDAccording to Brentwood police, the officer recognized one of the suspects from a previous theft. Around $2,200 worth of stolen merchandise was recovered. Glasper, who is currently on felony probation for theft, was found to have a warrant for burglary. Both suspects were arrested and transported to the Martinez Detention Facility.

Preparing for Taylor Swift concert at Levi's Stadium

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:32 GMT

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KRON) -- Fans are flocking to Santa Clara to see Taylor Swift perform both Friday and Saturday night at Levi's Stadium. Swifties started lining up on Thursday, sleeping overnight outside of the stadium. The City of Santa Clara has welcomed Taylor Swift with open arms. They have renamed the city to "Swiftie Clara" in anticipation of her performances and even named her honorary mayor. Here's what you need to know ahead of Friday and Saturday night:Time frameParking at Levi's Stadium will open at 2 p.m. with gates opening at 4:30 p.m. The concert is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. with Swift expected to take the stage at 8 p.m. She will be performing 45 songs which should take around a total of three hours. Elon Musk wants to turn tweets into ‘X’s’. But changing language is not quite so simple TransportationTraffic and delays are expected and fans are strongly encouraged to take public transportation. Caltrain is offering additional post-event trains and the Santa Clar...

Union effort to purchase beloved SF brewery could be losing steam

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:32 GMT

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated the status of the union's bid to purchase the brewery. We regret the error. (July 28, 2023)SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Union workers at Anchor Brewing Company say they weren't given a fair shot at purchasing the historic San Francisco brewery from its current owner, Sapporo Breweries. A press release issued Thursday night by Warehouse Union Local 6, which represents workers at Anchor, states an outreach had been made to Sapporo on July 19 informing them that workers intended to make a bid to purchase the brewery. Large fire burns in SF's Sunset District "Our request was simple: work with us fairly and transparently. Give us a fair shot," the press release read.The union members went on to say that Sapporo told them it would consider an offer, as long as a bona fide source of funding was in place and would provide financial information accordingly.However, according to the press release, Sapporo refused to grant access to financial...

Homes that become deadly: Tornadoes kill disproportionately more in mobile homes, AP analysis finds

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:32 GMT

ROLLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Many were not just killed at home. They were killed by their homes.Angela Eason had visited Brenda Odoms’ tidy mobile home before. It was a place where Odoms, who had many tragedies in her life, felt safe.In March, a tornado ripped through this small Mississippi town and people in mobile or manufactured homes were hit the hardest. Inside a mobile morgue, Eason, the county coroner, examined Odoms’ gaping fatal head wound. Odoms was found just outside of her collapsed mobile home that was tossed around by a tornado. Blunt force trauma killed her.“The one place she felt safe she was not,” Eason said. Fourteen people died in that Rolling Fork tornado, nine of them, including Brenda Odoms, were in uprooted manufactured or mobile homes.Tornadoes in the United States are disproportionately killing more people in mobile or manufactured homes, especially in the South, often victimizing some of the most socially and economically vulnerable residents. Since 1996, to...

Md. oversight board approves first reform plans for all local school systems

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:32 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board approved all 24 school systems’ initial plans as part of the state’s goal to reform public education.The documents approved Thursday are the first submission of Blueprint plans, summarizing the reform work that is complete, currently underway or that will be implemented through the 2023-24 school year.All documents include details on the Blueprint’s focus on early childhood education, hiring and retaining high-quality and diverse teachers, preparing students for college and technical careers and providing additional resources for students in need.Board Chair Isiah “Ike” Leggett thanked employees at the implementation board and the state Department of Education and members of the state Board of Education for Thur...