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Mirrorball Dreams of Beach Boys

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:00:17 GMT

Mirrorball Dreams of Beach Boys: Alexandra Johnstone of L.A. dream-pop duo Mirrorball told us about her Beach Boys experience.Alexandra Johnstone: The best gig I ever saw was in 2012 when all living members of the Beach Boys joined on stage for the reunion tour at the Hollywood Bowl.They sang along with the Dennis Wilson song “Forever” and to Carl Wilson’s vocal for “God Only Knows.”In that moment, the Mike Love andBrian Wilson drama didn’t exist, and it was not even a footnote.As a Beach Boys fan, I think this was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. There was a spiritual, brotherly quality that pulsated through you and down into the earth— I felt it, and I will never forget it.Mirrorball Dreams of Beach Boys: Mirrorball’s single “Red Hot Dust” is out now.                                 &n...

San Jose city employees warned ChatGPT use is a public record

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:00:17 GMT

As widely popular artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT continue to creep into our lives, San Jose is one of the first major American cities to warn its employees about the reach of the new tool, releasing a host of strict guidelines for AI use.The city is making one thing clear up front: Be careful what you do with this new-fangled gizmo.Everything city workers search for and create within ChatGPT is subject to the California Public Records Act, city officials warn multiple times throughout the newly released 23-page document, meaning that any citizen can get a look at how San Jose employees are using the new AI program.“Presume anything you submit could end up on the front page of a newspaper,” the July 20 memo states on its first page, adding, “Do not use any prompts that may include information not meant for public release.”According to city officials, some employees already are using ChatGPT.“We’ve (heard) folks have experimented with (...

Podziemski’s intense competitive fire led him to NBA, and led Warriors to him

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:00:17 GMT

LAS VEGAS – Brandin Podziemski was supposed to leave with Trayce Jackson-Davis. Dripping with sweat in his blue Warriors hoodie, they’d done an hour more than their required work for the day, and Vegas was calling.But the No. 19 pick stayed behind. Instead of heading out to enjoy his free time on the Strip, he parked his butt on a metal bleacher and took in an even rarer sight at the Warriors’ practice facility in Las Vegas.Stephen Curry and Chris Paul, two future Hall of Famers and his new teammates, working out together for the first time since 2009.“It’s a million-dollar experience,” Podziemski said. “Anybody would pay any amount of money to watch them two work out.”Who would’ve thought the kid who didn’t take basketball seriously until eighth grade and rode the bench in college just two years ago would wind up here?“It’s a super surreal moment,” Podziemski said.Podziemski stayed for another hour and soaked in every piece of knowledge they were willing to share. They talked about...

Opinion: Cancer-drug shortage creates ‘death panels’ for patients like me

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:00:17 GMT

More than a decade ago, conservative Republicans led by Sarah Palin created a furor by falsely claiming that proposed federal legislation to provide end-of-life counseling would result in “death panels” that would “pull the plug on Grandma” to save money.Today, something resembling real death panels have sprung up at cancer-care centers across the country, not because of a government plot but because of a poorly regulated free market. A national scarcity of front-line chemotherapy drugs — especially cisplatin and carboplatin — has resulted in rationing the life-extending medications.Many cancer centers have drawn a line in the sand. They offer certain chemo drugs only to patients they think they can cure and withhold them from those they deem incurable, even if the drugs would extend their lives. I’m one of hundreds of thousands of cancer patients on the wrong side of that line and now deemed expendable.For more than five years, I’ve been under treatment for a rare cance...

Silicon Valley office vacancy climbs to “historic high” as tech retrenches

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:00:17 GMT

SAN JOSE — Silicon Valley’s office vacancy rate has ballooned to what experts describe as a “historic” high level, a fresh indicator of the economic fallout unleashed by the consolidation in the tech sector.The office vacancy rate in Silicon Valley, defined as Santa Clara County and Fremont, reached 21.6% in the April-through-June second quarter, according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate firm.“The Silicon Valley office vacancy rate increased significantly in the second quarter of 2023, finishing at a historic high of 21.6%,” Cushman & Wakefield reported.During the January-through-March first quarter of 2023, the office vacancy in Silicon Valley was 18.4%, according to the real estate firm.Several forbidding outposts contributed to the grim landscape of the Silicon Valley office market and its sky-high vacancy rates.Among the weakest markets in the South Bay, according to Cushman & Wakefield:— Sa...

Huge housing tower is eyed for one-time Sunset campus in Menlo Park

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:00:17 GMT

MENLO PARK — The leafy, low-slung former headquarters of Sunset Magazine in Menlo Park could become the tallest high-rise in San Mateo County if a project on file with city planners comes to fruition.A sweeping redevelopment is being eyed at the one-time home of the lifestyle publication, which could include several hundred homes, office space for 1,000-plus workers, a hotel and a housing tower that could top 20 stories.80 Willow Road office campus near the corner of Willow Road and Middlefield Road in Menlo Park, shown with the outlines. Boundaries are approximate. (Google Maps)A review of plans on file with Menlo Park city planners shows the most prominent feature of the project at 80 Willow Road would be a residential tower that could soar 328 feet. If the floors were a conventional 12 feet, that could equate to 27 stories.The property owners — a group whose principal executives include the son of a former top government official with close ties to Russia’s...

Opinion: Shopping for AC? Why you should consider a heat pump instead

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:00:17 GMT

The recent scorching heat wave is a reminder that our relentless march toward hotter temperatures with climate change continues.Heat waves have already grown in frequency substantially across the Bay Area with climate change, and our exposure will only grow in coming years. As temperatures rise, so will the health impacts. On the average “heat day,” Santa Clara County sees an average of 504 excess emergency room visits, according to a mapping tool from UCLA, and these impacts fall hardest on low-income communities and communities of color.As policymakers and the public prepare for heat waves to become more common, we must ensure that our homes, and especially homes in low-income communities, are climate-ready. While safe temperature levels can be achieved in many coastal regions through simple improvements such as shading, fans, and energy efficiency, in many California climates access to cooling can literally be life-saving.But not all cooling is created equal. In fact, our cooling...

Cop recounts actions of man accused of killing woman and teen girl in Vacaville

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:00:17 GMT

Human traffickers use romance to recruit a victim “and the violence soon follows,” said a Vacaville police corporal and former detective with the department’s vice unit.Officer Steven Gunderson’s statement came Wednesday morning as he testified in Solano County Superior Court during Day 6 of a preliminary hearing for Raymond Michael Weber, 31, of Sacramento, who is charged with the fatal 2021 shootings of two females, one of them a minor, in Vacaville.Gunderson’s statement also came some minutes after co-defense counsel Leslie Prince wondered if human trafficking occurred in the case when Deputy District Attorney Eric Charm was questioning the officer about his extensive background and training in human trafficking.Judge Jeffrey C. Kauffman, who is presiding over the case in Department 1, eventually overruled Prince’s objection, essentially accepting, for the time being, that Gunderson was an expert in human trafficking, a ruling, the judge noted, that could be appealed later.Raymon...

Santa Cruz otter saga highlights human disturbances

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:00:17 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — The unusually aggressive sea otter swiping surfboards in Santa Cruz has had regional authorities hot on her flippers for weeks.But the less than ideal behavior isn’t limited to sea species.Curious kayakers and paddle boarders have been spotted in recent days getting too close to the charismatic ocean critters and experts warn that this can pose a serious risk both to the animal and its human counterparts.“This (past) weekend was off the charts,” said Mark Woodward, a Santa Cruz-based photographer who regularly visits the coastline on the Westside to snap pictures from the cliffs. “I mean every few minutes people were trying to get close to her and it’s really bad for the otter’s health.”International attentionWoodward took some of the original photos and videos of southern sea otter “841” – the name given to her after being born in captivity – who has made waves across the globe after she was seen aggressively wrestling surfboards away from oceangoers and ripping out ch...

Owner rejects workers' offer to buy Anchor Brewing Company

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:00:17 GMT

(KRON) -- Sapporo Breweries, who owns Anchor Brewing Company, has turned down their workers' offer to buy the San Francisco-based company.Sapporo said they would consider the deal if the workers had money lined up. Union representatives contacted Sapporo and requested the relevant financial information. According to the workers, Sapporo refused to give them access to the company's financial information, claiming it is too close to the day of when they would have to hand over control of their assets. Large fire burns in SF's Sunset District The union is now asking Sapporo to delay handing over control of their assets until September 2 so both sides could have time to work out a deal to keep the iconic brand alive. Sapporo released the following statement to KRON4:"We have made it clear since we announced the closure of the brewery on July 12 that its assets would be turned over to an Assignee for the Benefit of Creditors (liquidators) at the start of August. The brewery has no fle...