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Halloween 2023: Theatrical tricks and treats haunt Bay Area stages

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:27 GMT

Halloween is traditionally a big deal in San Francisco, even if the Castro’s famously mammoth street parties are sadly a thing of the past.For local theatergoers there’s usually no dearth of spine-tingling shows to brave throughout the month of October, from elaborate haunted-house experiences to classic thrillers and cult-classic camp.Here’s a tantalizing taste of what’s in the theatrical trick-or-treat bag this year.“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”: Ever since its 1975 release, this musical comedy horror movie has kept running as a midnight-movie cult classic, with live “shadow casts” mimicking the onscreen action and a practiced accompanying ritual of shouted audience responses. Mountain View’s Pear Theatre and Harmony Werks is presenting screenings of the movie, complete with shadow cast and the works (or werks). Details: Oct. 20-21; Pear Theatre, Mountain View; $25; www.thepear.org“Lizard Women”: Now holed up in SF’s Phoenix Theatre after the demise of the PianoFight venue, Awes...

Faith-based maternity homes ‘create a haven’ in states with strict abortion laws

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:27 GMT

Anna Claire Vollers | (TNS) Stateline.orgCHILTON COUNTY, Ala. — At the end of a gravel road that runs through a wooded property in Chilton County, Alabama, a plain white two-story house sits overlooking a small pond.Outside the house, everything is tranquil: The swings on the new playground nearby are quiet, the pond is still, the rocking chairs lined up on the covered front porch rest vacant.Inside, the house is a hive of activity on a sunny morning in mid-September. Volunteers mop floors and carry plastic tubs of supplies to the upstairs bedrooms while contractors install stair railings and touch up paint in the hallways.In the middle of it all is Ashley Liveoak, executive director of an anti-abortion pregnancy resource center in nearby Clanton, a small town known mainly for its peach farms, nestled along Interstate 65 between Birmingham and Montgomery.Liveoak’s center has been renovating the 11-bedroom house to open it this month as a maternity home, a type of group housing for p...

Trump lawyers seek to halt civil fraud suit in New York

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:27 GMT

By Michael R. Sisak | Associated PressNEW YORK — Donald Trump’s lawyers asked a New York appeals court Friday to halt his Manhattan civil fraud trial while they fight a court ruling that calls for dissolving companies that control some of the former president’s most prized assets, including Trump Tower.Trump’s lawyers asked the state’s intermediate appellate court to suspend the trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit and prevent Judge Arthur Engoron from enforcing his ruling of last week, which revokes the Republican frontrunner’s business licenses and puts a court-appointed receiver in charge of his companies.Engoron “clearly does not comprehend the scope of the chaos (his) decision has wrought,” Trump lawyers Clifford Robert, Michael Farina and Michael Madaio wrote in a 41-page appellate brief filed as the non-jury trial entered its fifth day of testimony.Taking Trump’s companies “will unquestionably in...

San Jose Sharks place three veteran forwards on waivers, likely clearing way for younger players

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:27 GMT

The San Jose Sharks placed veteran forwards Oskar Lindblom, Jacob Peterson, and Ryan Carpenter on waivers Friday, likely clearing the way for forward William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau to be on the team’s 23-man roster for the start of the regular season.NHL teams have 24 hours to claim either Lindblom, Peterson, or Carpenter. If one or more of the players clear waivers, the expectation is they will be assigned to the San Jose Barracuda, the Sharks’ AHL affiliate.Lindblom, 27, is in the second year of a two-year, $5 million deal he signed with the Sharks in July of last year as a free agent.Per CapFriendly, if Lindblom clears and is assigned to the AHL, he’ll continue to count $1.35 million against San Jose’s cap.Peterson, 24, was qualified as a restricted free agent by the Sharks and signed to a one-year, two-way deal worth $775,000 at the NHL level. Carpenter, 32, received the same contract when he signed with the Sharks as a free agent in July.Although the Sharks wer...

Mailbag: Marquee Big Ten matchups on the West Coast, Pac-2 legal affairs, CFP access, Hotline coverage plans and more

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:27 GMT

The Hotline mailbag publishes each Friday. Send questions to [email protected] and include ‘mailbag’ in the subject line. Or hit me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline.Please note: Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.Which of the Big Ten matchups on the four West Coast campuses are you most excited to see in 2024? — @DouglasTSThere are three options and no wrong answers.The Big Ten used an incredibly complex scheduling model that produced 261 unsatisfactory options for the 2024-28 opponent rotation, but the 262nd version hit the mark.The process included breaking the 18 schools into two groups of nine, three groups of six and six groups of three — all to create balance within each bucket.We couldn’t help but note that Oregon has nine games against the Big Ten’s Big Three (Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State) over the five-year timeframe. The Trojans and Huskies have eight, but UCLA has just seven.Is that a sign the Bruins were place...

Bezos vs. Musk: Launch of Amazon test satellites latest salvo in billionaire duel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:27 GMT

In the battle of space-minded billionaires, Elon Musk has paved the way with SpaceX as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has had to play catchup with his company Blue Origin. The first launch of a pair of satellites for Amazon set for Friday could prove to be both a boon for the future of Blue Origin and also give Musk some serious competition for one of SpaceX’s money-making ventures.The duo of test internet-providing satellites are the first for Amazon’s Project Kuiper. The Project Kuiper Protoflight is scheduled to launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 with a two-hour launch window that opens at 2 p.m.Space Launch Delta 45 forecasts an 70% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch, and 85% in the event of a 24-hour delay.Amazon has plans to launch 3,236 of the satellites, with the majority flying from Cape Canaveral on either Bezos’ Blue Origin New Glenn rockets or ULA’s new Vulcan Centaur rockets, which will ...

Deadly flood in northern India was feared for years

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:27 GMT

By Ashok Sharma and Sibi Arasu | Associated PressNEW DELHI — Hundreds of rescuers dug through slushy debris and fast-flowing, icy water Friday in a search for survivors after a glacial lake overflowed and burst through a dam in India’s Himalayan north, a disaster that many had warned was possible for years.The flood began in the early hours of Wednesday, when water overflowed a mountain lake. It smashed through a major hydroelectric dam downstream and then poured into the valley below, where it killed at least 41 people, carrying bodies kilometers (miles) away, and forced thousands to flee their homes.It wasn’t clear what triggered the deadly flood, the latest to hit northeast India in a year of unusually heavy monsoon rains. Experts pointed to intense rain, and a 6.2 magnitude earthquake that struck nearby Nepal on Tuesday afternoon, as possible contributors.But the disaster also underscores a climate dilemma that pits local environmental activists who say dams in the H...

Police find dozens of bodies at funeral home under investigation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:27 GMT

By Jesse Bedayn | Associated PressCAÑON CITY, Colo. — Police said Friday they have found at least 115 bodies at Colorado ‘green’ funeral home under investigation for improper handling of remains.Fremont County Sheriff Allen Cooper said they are coordinating with other agencies to determine if there is any wrongdoing.The Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado, performed “green” burials without embalming chemicals or metal caskets.The investigation centered on a building owned by the funeral home where local residents reported smelling a foul stench before police became involved.Deputies were called to the single-story building on Tuesday night in reference to a suspicious incident. Fremont County Sheriff’s Office investigators returned the next day with a search warrant and found the improperly stored remains.Authorities said Friday at the press conference they believe there is currently no health risk to the public. They declined to describe...

Alameda PD arrest suspect connected to bank robbery

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:27 GMT

(KRON) – A suspect who allegedly has a connection to a bank robbery was arrested by the Alameda Police Department on Oct. 3. Alameda police responded to the block of 2200 block of Otis Drive to a possible bank robbery. Suspect arrested in fatal Union City mobile home park stabbing According to police, officers were notified that a person handed the bank teller a note demanding money. The person was carrying a firearm.The bank teller complied with the robber’s demands. The bank staff gathered video footage and preserved potential evidence, police said. An image of the suspect was sent to patrol units. The officers subsequently located the suspect at a nearby business. Police say the officers peacefully surrounded the suspected robber. 

Autoworkers pause adding factories to strike after GM agrees to bring battery plants into main union contract

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:27 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Autoworkers pause adding factories to strike after GM agrees to bring battery plants into main union contract.Source