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Unwanted, expired COVID-19 tests mailed to Central Texans; Medicare billed for them

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:05:24 GMT

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — Richard McGinn recalls the first package of COVID-19 tests he received in the mail in April. He said he was puzzled since he had never ordered the tests or requested them.Richard McGinn sits at his desk with a collection of unwanted COVID-19 tests he's received in the mail. (KXAN Photo/Arezow Doost)"We get them in continuous days, and it went on for about four or five weeks," McGinn explained. He said that something didn't seem right, so he started saving the tests. He's collected more than 50 boxes of at-home COVID-19 tests. "It was from places in California and Wisconsin and Florida. Different laboratories were sending them to us," McGinn said "It just felt wrong." In Austin, Suzann Madeley opened a big tan bag where she stored all the tests she had received. Some she said that had arrived already expired. "Here I am sitting with all of these that could have been used by someone and it makes me furious," Madeley said. "It makes me fu...

Real World Economics: For Biden, it’s the ‘no respect’ economy

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:05:24 GMT

Edward LottermanNo respect! No respect at all! Joe Biden may feel that 1980s gag line hitting home when he reads polls indicating that the U.S. public thinks he’s doing a bad job on the economy.This even though all the key numbers — inflation, unemployment and output — show the economy is doing very well. In fact, right now the U.S. is doing the best of any of the G-7 industrialized economies in all three of these metrics.But Joe’s newly branded “Bidenomics” is getting little credit so far. Why?To understand this, we could hark back to the 1992 presidential campaign between George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. At an early debate in which audience members could ask questions, a young woman asked Bush what he was going to do about inflation.Bush was flummoxed. Inflation in mid-1992 was running about 3%, about the lowest in more than 20 years, and during his first term it was the best since the Johnson administration in the late 1960s. Low inflation wa...

Crews remain on scene after 12 homes damaged in landslide in Rolling Hills Estates

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:05:24 GMT

A massive landslide forced the evacuation of a dozen homes in a Los Angeles County neighborhood late Saturday night, and police, fire and utility company officials were on scene as early as 6 a.m. Sunday morning with the area completely closed off.At least 12 homes were evacuated in Rolling Hills Estates along Peartree Lane next to the canyon area, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. A total of 16 residents were forced to leave their residences.SoCal Edison shut off power in the area, and Southern California Gas Company crews were called in to make sure no gas lines had been ruptured.According to to the L.A. County Fire Department, cracks were first discovered in the structure of one home, which led crews to find that the damage had progressed to neighboring residences."They discovered cracks along the structure of one building, and upon further investigation they realized that there were some cracks running through one home specifically, and it was progressing to the next...

6 victims in French Valley Airport plane crash identified 

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:05:24 GMT

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has released the identities of the six victims who died in a small plane crash near the French Valley Airport in Murrieta early Saturday morning. The victims include the pilots, Riese Lenders, 25, of Rancho Palos Verdes and 32-year-old Manuel Vargas-Regalado of Temecula, as well as his wife, 33-year-old Abigail Tellez-Vargas.  In addition, 46-year-old Ibrahem and 51-year-old Alma Razick of Temecula were also killed in the crash. The sixth victim was identified as Lindsey Gleiche, 31, of Huntington Beach. All six victims died after heavy fog limited visibility near the French Valley Airport, causing the business jet to miss the runway by several hundred yards.  A jet carrying six people crashed near French Valley Airport in Murrieta early Saturday morning, marking the second deadly incident at the airstrip in one week. (KTLA)A jet carrying six people crashed near French Valley Airport in Murrieta early Saturday morning, ma...

Cupertino’s 50-plus softball league promotes competition, camaraderie

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:05:24 GMT

The boys and girls of summer who gathered on the softball field at Cupertino’s Memorial Park late last month had a few more summers behind them than your average player.Bill Bonin was celebrating his 73rd birthday when he played in the June 29 game with the 50-plus co-ed softball league organized by the Cupertino Senior Center.“I like the competition and the camaraderie and the exercise,” said Bonin, who played intramural softball in college at UC Berkeley and has lived in Cupertino for 20 years.Harlan Jackson has been involved in the popular softball league for more than 10 years. Jackson, who has lived in Cupertino for more than 60 years, said he loves the personalities in this once-a-week league.“Everybody is fun; everybody’s out to have fun,” Jackson said. “What I like about this group is that everyone is understanding about everyone else’s strengths and limitations.”The league starts play at the end of March each year, if the weather is cooperating, and runs until the beginning...

Name your price for train ride on Billy Jones Day

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:05:24 GMT

Billy Jones DayBilly Jones’ legacy is hard to miss at his eponymous Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad; his name is painted on the side of the conductor’s car and appears above a grinning wildcat on the park’s logo. But on Sunday, July 23, the park will dedicate the entire day to celebrating its founder with Billy Jones Day at Oak Meadow Park. From 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., attendees will get to name their own price for a ride on the train and carousel.Hot weather safetyEarlier this month, Los Gatos residents got a taste of what will likely be a sweltering summer. Santa Clara County has resources available online for residents to help understand the risks of hot weather and stay safe during heat waves. The website, www.preparescc.org/heatsafety, includes information on cooling centers, which the town opens to the public during extreme weather, and is available in five languages. The Los Gatos Library is always available as a cooling center during business hours.Gouache art classesAspiring ...

Los Gatos’ pickleball courts draw hundreds of new players

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:05:24 GMT

At the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center, pickleball is becoming a “big dill.”In the past four months, more than 450 people have signed up to play the fast-growing, easy-to-learn sport at the Los Gatos JCC, said Danielle Patterson, the center’s marketing and communications director.“The pickleball courts have definitely grown in popularity,” Patterson said. “I’d say it’s one of the top reasons people are here. You hear that ‘dink’ sound when you walk through the door,”The sport has taken over the country and launched a professional major league with investors including LeBron James and Kevin Durant as well as Tom Brady and Drew Brees. More than 36 million people picked up paddles and played the sport last year, including celebrities like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.“It’s a pretty low-barrier-to-entry sport,” Patterson said. “You have a bunch of people doing it who are trying pickleball for the first time, (as well as) former tennis p...

Author shares fruits of her labor with Milpitas garden club

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:05:24 GMT

Local author Lisa Prince Newman shared her love of apricots with the Green Thumb Garden Club of Milpitas at the group’s June 26 meeting.Newman recently released the fifth anniversary edition of her cookbook and memoir, “For the Love of Apricots: Recipes and Memories of the Santa Clara Valley.”The author was raised locally in the ’60s and ’70s surrounded by acres of old French prune trees, persimmon, fig, apple, Meyer lemon, pomegranate, kumquat and loquat. Growing up, her mother Aileen instilled in her a love of farm-to-table cooking.On a winter walk through Novakovich Orchards in Saratoga, Newman was inspired write “For the Love of Apricots.” The book combines her passion for apricots and her culinary skills with regional history and environmental perspective.Club members and Newman engaged in a lively discussion in the community room of the Milpitas Police Department, sharing their childhood memories around apricots. Garden club president Valerie Meisner remembered cutting apricot...

Lyric Theatre celebrates 50 years with 3 shows and a gala in San Jose

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:05:24 GMT

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Lyric Theatre is staging three shows in repertory July 22-Aug. 6 and hosting a gala on July 30.The company kicks things off July 22 with a matinee of “Ragtime the Musical” and an evening performance of “The Best of Lerner and Loewe,” both at Hammer Theatre Center in downtown San Jose. Both shows run through Aug. 5.Nominated for 13 Tony Awards in 1998, “Ragtime” depicts racial tensions, infidelity and violence in early 1900s New York City. Terrence McNally’s book is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow, with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.Lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe’s partnership spanned three decades and spawned hit musicals including “My Fair Lady,” “Brigadoon,” “Paint Your Wagon” and “Camelot” along with the musical film “Gigi.” “The Best of Lerner and Loewe” includes highlights of these show, perfor...

Pond repurposing at Cupertino’s Memorial Park named project of the year

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:05:24 GMT

Award with purposeCupertino’s Memorial Park Ponds Repurposing Project was this year’s winner of the American Public Works Association Silicon Valley Project of the Year Award for projects under $2 million.The $1.68 million project removed the concrete liner for the old ponds, which have been drained since 2013 in response to drought restrictions. The city replaced the ponds with usable green space, planted garden areas, and did some minor paving to allow residents to walk through the area. In addition, the irrigation system was upgraded and modified to facilitate better water usage.New public works directorChad Mosley has moved up the ranks in Cupertino’s Department of Public Works, having recently been promoted from assistant director to director of the department.Mosley has worked for the Department of Public Works since 2009,  initially as a city engineer. In that role, he has overseen land development and helped manage the Capital Improvement Program.Mosley assumed his new role ...