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What to watch: ‘Master Gardner,’ ‘Happy Valley’ worthy, if flawed, finales

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:47 GMT

Can the third time really be the charm?At 76, uncompromising filmmaker Paul Schrader wraps up his trilogy on men confronting their pasts. Meanwhile, the third — and sadly final — season of one of TV’s best contemporary crime series — “Happy Valley” — hopes to save the best for last.But as great as they are in considerable ways, each has an issue with sticking the landing.Here’s our roundup.“Master Gardener”: Is it possible that Paul Schrader, the gifted and cranky screenwriter of the seminal “Taxi Driver” and auteur of other gritty downer films, has gone soft on us? You might come away feeling that’s the case after watching this final installment in his unofficially connected trio of features about men wrestling with past deeds and misdeeds. And OK, this isn’t as dark as “First Reformed,” the best film in that three pack. But “Gardener” is an at-times thrilling eyebrow-raiser about the troubled, seemingly mild-mannered horticultu...

Elizabeth Holmes ordered to pay massive restitution over fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:47 GMT

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her co-accused and former lover Sunny Balwani were ordered late Tuesday to pay more than $450 million in restitution for defrauding investors.Holmes, the founder and former CEO of the now-defunct Palo Alto blood testing startup, has said in court filings that she “continues to work on ideas for patents” but “has essentially no assets of meaningful value” and “has incurred substantial debt from which she is unlikely to recover.”In his restitution order, Judge Edward Davila, who presided over the trials and convictions of Holmes and Balwani, held the two “jointly and severally liable” for the nearly half-billion-dollar repayment to individuals and entities, because they were both found guilty of conspiring with each other to defraud investors. That means Holmes and Balwani — the former Theranos president who has denied Holmes’ claims he sexually abused and coerced her — are each on the hook for the full amount, ...

Reviews rip Johnny Depp’s big-screen comeback as ‘gone-to-seed’ French king

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:47 GMT

Johnny Depp has certainly made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival this week while promoting his big-screen comeback in the French historical drama “Jeanne du Barry,” though it’s being disputed on Twitter whether his standing ovation at the film’s screening was actually seven minutes.But thus far, the reviews of the film are united in saying that the controversial actor’s performance as the French King Louis XV doesn’t live up to the hype surrounding his first appearance in a movie in three years, and not just because he’s not in the movie all that much. The reviews say that Depp is muted or “taciturn” in the role, or that the usually “too busy” and forcibly quirky actor appears uncomfortable in what The Guardian said is still a “spectacular” bit of stunt casting. Reviews also describe Depp’s French as either “respectable” or laughably uneven, while others suggest he either reveals his w...

Single-family house in Saratoga sells for $3.1 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:47 GMT

20205 Saratoga Vista Court – Google Street ViewA spacious house located in the 20200 block of Saratoga Vista Court in Saratoga has a new owner. The 2,541-square-foot property, built in 1960, was sold on April 28, 2023, for $3,050,000, or $1,200 per square foot. The property features four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a garage, as well as a pool in the backyard and one parking space. The unit sits on an 8,150-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently changed hands nearby:On Beaumont Avenue, Saratoga, in April 2023, a 1,846-square-foot home was sold for $2,965,000, a price per square foot of $1,606. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 2,411-square-foot home on the 20200 block of Glen Brae Drive in Saratoga sold in March 2023, for $4,150,000, a price per square foot of $1,721. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In April 2023, a 2,152-square-foot home on Edinburgh Drive in Saratoga sold for $3,810,000, a price per square foot of $1,770. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bath...

Palo Alto gives the go-ahead to chef José Andrés’ restaurant at Stanford center

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:47 GMT

A Stanford Shopping Center restaurant from acclaimed chef José Andrés is back on track again.Under threat of legal action, the city of Palo Alto early Wednesday announced that it would make an exception to the city’s new all-electric policy for new construction. Andrés had threatened to abandon the project if he wasn’t allow to use the already installed gas line for cooking, and attorneys for the Simon Group had vowed to sue if necessary.The city’s decision says, in part:Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | The restaurant chain that officially owns ‘Taco Tuesday’ fights challenge from Taco Bell Restaurants, Food and Drink | Peninsula Restaurant Week runs May 19-27, with dozens of meal deals Restaurants, Food and Drink | Lobster tacos, loaded mac & cheese and other Black Restaurant Week specials Restaurants, Food and Drink | Will renowned chef José Andrés bail on Stanford Shopping Ce...

Northern California’s Lake Oroville, Shasta near-full capacity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:47 GMT

OROVILLE — California when it rains: water cooler talk.Both Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta reported near-full capacity Monday with plenty of snow in the northern mountains anticipated to melt.Shasta Lake reached 1,063 feet elevation on May 1 with four feet of capacity remaining and Lake Oroville reached 890 feet on May 13 with 10 feet left of capacity — each holding steady since.Lake Oroville is at 96% capacity and is expected to be filled into the spring.Boats are parked at the end of Bidwell Canyon Marina and, in the distance on the water of Lake Oroville on Monday, May 15, 2023 in Oroville, California. (Jennie Blevins/Mercury-Register) Oroville last reached capacity in 2017 and in the last 30 years reached capacity in 2017, 2012, 2011, 2006, 2005, 2003, 1998, 1996 and 1993, according to an email from DWR Information Officer Jason Ince.Shasta Recreation Company General Manager Shyann Almazan said all boat ramps are open at Shasta Lake including Antler’s Boat Ramp, Bailey Cove,...

Man kills wrong bear near Yellowstone, faces a year in jail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:47 GMT

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming hunter faces up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted of killing a grizzly bear he allegedly claims he mistook for a legal-to-hunt black bear outside Yellowstone National Park.The dead male grizzly weighing about 530 pounds was reported around 9 a.m. May 1 by several drivers on Highway 14 near the eastern entrance to Yellowstone. The carcass had been left where it fell, about 30 yards from the road and close to a picnic area on the Shoshone River.The bear had been shot at least four times, said an affidavit filed in Park County Circuit Court by game warden Travis Crane.The following day, a man called the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to turn himself in. He reportedly told Crane that he had been confident before shooting that the animal was a black bear and realized his error only when he was able to inspect the carcass.The hunter is a 65-year-old man from the community of Wapiti, between Yellowstone and Cody. He is scheduled to be arrai...

'Death over candy cannot be the way': Group urges SF DA to prosecute guard in Banko Brown killing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:47 GMT

Warning: This story contains graphic videoSAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A group of community members, activists and LGBT leaders held a rally Wednesday urging San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to prosecute a security guard who shot and killed Banko Brown. The group gathered outside Jenkins' office at 10 a.m. Wednesday, demanding the DA bring charges against Michael-Earl Wayne Anthony, a security guard who shot and killed Brown, a 24-year-old trans activist, during a confrontation at a Walgreens on Market Street on April 27. Pride flag that was ripped down at Palo Alto church being investigated as hate crime DA Jenkins' office released surveillance footage of the confrontation that led to Brown's killing this week and confirmed that no charges would be pursued. That decision has sparked outrage among activists and community members.Footage of the confrontation clearly indicates that Brown had already exited the store when he was shot by Anthony. Footage of the co...

The U.S. Still Owes Money to Family of 10 Afghans It Killed in “Horrible Mistake”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:47 GMT

Nearly two years after the U.S. killed 10 members of an Afghan family, including seven children, in a drone strike that prompted a rare apology from the Pentagon, the U.S. government has yet to make good on a pledge to compensate surviving relatives.Weeks after the attack, which targeted an aid worker whom intelligence officials had mistaken for someone else, the U.S. made a public commitment to condolence payments and pledged to help survivors relocate. With the help of U.S. officials, some of those survivors made it to California last year, including two of the aid worker’s brothers, Emal and Romal Ahmadi, and their families.As they struggle to adapt to life in a new country, however, they feel abandoned by the U.S. government, according to volunteers and community groups that have assisted them. One volunteer recently started a fundraiser to help cover some family members’ living costs while they wait for the U.S. government to deliver on its promise.“They are living day to day i...

Review: ‘The Big Door Prize’ on Apple TV+ is existential dramedy about life’s potential

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:47 GMT

toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley reviews 'The Big Door Prize' on Apple TV+ $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); What would you do if a magical machine revealed your true life potential? Would you suddenly change your career to pursue your supposed destiny? Or would you be content with the life you’d already built by chance?That’s the high-concept premise of the new 10-episode streaming television series “...