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Italian 'pasta strike' proposed amid soaring prices

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:08 GMT

Whatever you do, don't mess with Italians' pasta.Pasta prices in Bel Paese -- that's "beautiful country" to us non-Italians -- are soaring, much to the chagrin of carb-loving Italians.Pasta costs rose by 17.5% in March and 16.5% in April. That's more than double Italy's roughly 8% inflation rate.The reason is simple: Much of the pasta now making its way to store shelves (and imported here to the U.S.) was manufactured during the pandemic, when commodity costs were higher.As a result, retail costs now reflect the higher production expenses.Even so, that's not sitting well with Italians."High prices are maintained in order to have greater profits," an Italian consumer group called Assoutent told CNBC.The group is seeking a "pasta strike" by consumers lasting at least 15 days to reduce demand and force retailers to lower costs.The situation is so dire that the Italian government convened an "emergency meeting" to discuss the pasta crisis. Pasta makers, government officials and consumer...

Integrative Medicine Guru Dr. Andrew Weil Opens True Food Kitchen in Century City

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:08 GMT

Founded by integrative medicine specialist and creator of the anti-inflammatory food pyramid, Dr. Andrew Weil, True Food Kitchen opens its 44th location this week at the Westfield Century City mall. The chain celebrates 15 years with an expansive, wrap-around indoor/outdoor dining patio and the brand’s first location to feature a stand-alone island bar with a colorful and juicy cocktail program.Once considered a little quirky and avant-garde with his ideas of treating food as medicine back in the ‘70s and ’80s before anyone was throwing around words like gluten-free, vertical farming  or food sustainability, Dr. Weil’s philosophy has become this generation’s mantra. The pioneer of how we view food and the future of how we eat was on hand to celebrate the opening.“One of my motivations in starting this was that there weren’t a lot of places that I could eat out at with foods that met my nutritional needs,” the razor-sharp 81-year-old pescatarian who is the Clinical Professor of...

Want to share your Netflix account? That’ll be an extra $8

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:08 GMT

By Michael Liedtke | Associated PressNetflix on Tuesday outlined how it intends to crack down on the rampant sharing of account passwords in the U.S., its latest bid to reel in more subscribers to its video streaming service as its growth slows.To combat password sharing, Netflix said it will limit U.S. viewership of its programming to people living in the same household. Those who subscribe to Netflix’s standard or premium plans — which cost $15.50 to $20 per month — will be able to allow another person living outside their household to use their password for an additional $8 per month, a $2 discount from the company’s basic plan.Without providing details how it authenticates subscriber identities or accounts, Netflix assured that everyone living in the same household of a U.S. customer will still be able to stream TV series and movies “wherever they are — at home, on the go, on holiday.” The company based in Los Gatos, California has roughly 70 million U.S....

VP Kamala Harris leaves her mark on Applied Materials building

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:08 GMT

I haven’t heard if Vice President Kamala Harris got to take home a souvenir from her visit Monday to Applied Materials in Sunnyvale, but she definitely left one for the Silicon Valley company to remember her by.Harris signed her name to a 150-pound cylinder made of 99.999% pure silicon — the same material sliced into thin wafers during semiconductor manufacturing — surrounded by Applied CEO Gary Dickerson, Semiconductor Group President Prabu Raja, California Go-Biz Director DeeDee Myers and Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein. Leaning big time into its Silicon Valley image, Applied officials thought launching the new Epic Center with a “silicon cornerstone” was a lot more cutting edge than turning over some dirt with shovels.The “cornerstone” won’t actually be hidden in the foundation of the building but will be incorporated into the building’s design in such a way that visitors will be able to see it and Harris’ signature.By the w...

Four-bedroom home sells in Palo Alto for $6.2 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:08 GMT

842 Boyce Avenue – Google Street ViewA spacious house located in the 800 block of Boyce Avenue in Palo Alto has a new owner. The 3,496-square-foot property, built in 2000, was sold on May 3, 2023. The $6,225,000 purchase price works out to $1,781 per square foot. The property features four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a garage, and one parking space. It sits on a 9,850-square-foot lot, which also has a pool.Additional houses that have recently been purchased close by include:On Addison Avenue, Palo Alto, in July 2022, a 823-square-foot home was sold for $2,437,000, a price per square foot of $2,961. The home has 1 bedroom and 1 bathrooms.A 1,045-square-foot home on the 1000 block of Fife Avenue in Palo Alto sold in December 2022, for $2,712,000, a price per square foot of $2,595. The home has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathrooms.In August 2022, a 3,372-square-foot home on Guinda Street in Palo Alto sold for $5,175,000, a price per square foot of $1,535. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.&n...

Tenderloin drug bust yields over 1,000 grams of narcotics, handgun

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:08 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Two suspects were arrested last week and a large cache of narcotics and a handgun were seized, according to the San Francisco Police Department on Twitter. The suspects were under surveillance in Oakland. 1 killed, 4 injured after carjacked vehicle plows into SF bus stop Upon arriving in San Francisco, they were arrested by officers from the SFPD Narcotics Unit, Tenderloin Station plainclothes officers and Drug Enforcement Agency agents, who served a search warrant. A photo accompanying the tweet showed several bags of pills and powdered substances that appeared to be packaged for sale, along with a handgun and bullets, and a large roll of bills. A total of 1,095.7 grams of narcotics were seized along with the gun, police said.

Texas man near deadly police shooting during Capitol riot gets nearly 7 years in prison

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:08 GMT

A Texas winery operator was sentenced on Tuesday to nearly seven years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol and joining an attack on the House chamber when police shot and killed another rioter.Christopher Ray Grider also tried to cut power to the Capitol building during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot — “a terrifying act of political and institutional sabotage,” according to prosecutors.U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Grider to six years and 11 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia.Grider, 41, joined the mob’s assault on the House chamber and helped another rioter break the Speaker’s Lobby’s glass doors, “setting in motion the chain of events” that led to an officer fatally shooting fellow rioter Ashli Babbitt, prosecutors wrote in a court filing.Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of seven years and three months for Grider.Grider pleaded guilty ...

Arizona takes down rival Arizona State 12-3 in Pac-12 opener

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:08 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Nik McClaughry and Chase Davis had three RBIs apiece as Arizona took down rival Arizona State 12-3 on Tuesday in the Pac-12 Tournament opener.Eighth-seeded Arizona (31-23) plays No. 2 seed Oregon State on Wednesday, looking to snap a three-game skid in the season series. Fifth-seeded Arizona State (31-23) has a day off before facing the Beavers on Thursday. McClaughry, the Pac-12 defensive player of the year, opened the scoring with a homer in the first inning and Emilio Corona added a two-run triple off the wall during the four-run inning. Arizona also scored four runs in the fourth, highlighted by Davis’ bases-clearing double.Arizona starter Aiden May (5-2) went six innings, allowing only four hits and one earned run. ASU loaded the bases in the fifth inning, but May collected a strikeout and a ground out to end the threat.Josh Hansell (2-1) gave up five earned runs in 2 1/3 innings for Arizona State, which swept a three-game series in Phoenix this y...

WTOP interview: DC Police Chief Robert Contee shares why he’s leaving after 33 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:08 GMT

On his last working day on the job, D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee reflected back on his more than three decades on the force, acknowledging the personal toll being D.C.’s top cop takes and why he feels he’s leaving this chapter of his career on his own terms.Last month, Contee surprised just about everyone in public safety when the mayor announced he was leaving to become a deputy director at the FBI. Contee joined the DC Police Department as a 17-year-old cadet and rose through the ranks under multiple administrations and other chiefs.“Interestingly enough, there were people back then who’d say, ‘You’re going to be chief one day!'” Contee told WTOP in an exit interview. “No, really, people said that. And I just wanted to be a sergeant!”Contee said as a “kid coming from Carver Terrace” — a neighborhood in Northeast D.C. — he was proud to make it on the force. “And then be able to make it to a sergeant,” ...

Death sentence reduced to life in prison for man who killed North Dakota student

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:08 GMT

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The death sentence for a Minnesota man who killed a North Dakota college student 20 years ago has been officially changed to life in prison.Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ralph Erickson signed the sentence amendment for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. last week, according to court records. Rodriguez, a sex offender, was convicted in 2007 of kidnapping 22-year-old Dru Sjodin on Nov. 22, 2003, from a Grand Forks shopping mall. He then sexually assaulted her, cut her throat and left her to die in a ravine near Crookston, Minnesota.The body of Sjodin, who was a University of North Dakota student, was found five months later.U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider in North Dakota filed a notice in federal court in March withdrawing his effort to seek the death penalty. He said he did so at the direction of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.That left life in prison without parole as the only possible sentenced for Rodriguez.Rodriguez’s death sentence was overturned in Septem...