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Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival to make long-awaited return in 2024

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

PEBBLE BEACH – After four years away, the Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival – Monterey County’s very own epicurean mecca – is staging a comeback next spring.The Pebble Beach Company announced Wednesday that the once smorgasbord of culinary talent will return April 4-7 next year. Hosted for the first time since 2019, details for next year’s event are still pending. But organizers promise a familiar four-day festival filled with cooking demos, wine tastings and exclusive dining experiences at Pebble Beach Resorts, featuring a star-studded list of chefs and sommeliers from near and far.“Pebble Beach has a century-long history of hosting iconic, world-class events and we look forward to adding to that rich history in April 2024 with the return of Pebble Beach Food and Wine,” Pebble Beach Company Chief Executive Officer David Stivers said in a press release. “Some of the best and most creative culinary minds in the country will beat Pebble Beach, showcasing their talents to an eager ...

California Assemblymember says Muslim colleague caters to White supremacists

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

Two assemblymembers representing Riverside County traded accusations that the other supports bigotry after the Democrat in a social media post called the Republican “an example of a minority becoming a white supremacist.”Assemblymember Corey Jackson’s tweet about Assemblymember Bill Essayli followed an edgy exchange between the first-term lawmakers at a Sacramento committee hearing on Jackson’s proposal to amend California’s long-standing affirmative action ban.Jackson, D-Perris, wants California voters to change the state constitution to allow state funding of “culturally specific interventions” intended to improve people of color’s quality of life, such as efforts to boost minority students’ test scores.Voters in 1996 banned affirmative action through Prop. 209. Jackson, who is Black, said his bill, ACA 7,  would not reverse that ban, but make up for its shortcomings.“There are certain groups that can only be served appropriately when you take race and culture into consideration i...

Opinion: Before Trump indictment, there was VP Spiro Agnew’s plea in 1973

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

The news has been full of concerns about the fate of our republic following the indictment of former President Donald Trump. There have been questions about the politicization of criminal laws and the credibility of the judiciary, the polarization of the electorate and threats of violent domestic reaction.But these concerns pale in comparison to the threat to the democratic system posed 50 years ago this summer, when it became shockingly clear that the country was being run by a president, Richard Nixon, and a vice president, Spiro Agnew, who were both simultaneously under criminal investigation for wholly unrelated conduct.What is now the controversy buzzword “obstruction of justice” was then the more mysterious buzzword “nolo contendere.” Where the first one refers to a provision of criminal law, the second refers to a rarely applied pleading device. And those distinctions make a difference.For one involves criminal allegations involving a former president outside of power yet see...

Disneyland crowds return to 90% of 2019 levels, report says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

Attendance at Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and other Southern California theme parks has not quite reached pre-pandemic levels despite crowds and lines that might make visitors think otherwise.Southern California theme park attendance in 2022 nearly bounced back to pre-pandemic 2019 crowd levels, according to a new report from the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM.Southern California attendance in 2022 (90% vs. 2019) was on par with U.S. theme parks (88% vs. 2019) and well ahead of parks worldwide (79% vs. 2019) compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to the TEA/AECOM report.Disneyland’s 16.9 million visitors in 2022 was 90% of the 18.7 million that came to the park in 2019, according to the TEA/AECOM report. Disney California Adventure did slightly better at 91% — tallying 9 million visitors in 2022 compared to 9.9 million in 2019.Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott’s Berry Farm did slightly better than the Disney parks — each reaching 92% of 2019 attendanc...

Titan rescue: A look inside the Titan submersible

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

With few hours of oxygen left in the missing Titan submersible, rescue efforts continue of the five passengers who have been trapped inside since it submerged Sunday morning. Here’s a close-up look at the Titan:Pilot: The sub is steered using a modified video game controller that costs about $40.Hull: Is 5 inches thick made of carbon fiber, allowing it to withstand high pressures at the wreck of the Titanic.Electric thrusters: Two horizontal and two vertical thrusters allow it to travel at speeds of up to 3.45 mph.Weights: Allow the Titan to sink 2.4 miles below sea level.Toilet: Is located at the front separated from the rest of the crew by a thin curtain.Viewport: Is 21 inches of thick glass.Titanium cap: Is bolted on the hull before the expedition, sealing the passengers inside until they return to the surface.Download a pdf copy of the graphic.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | CEO of company that owns missing Titanic tour sub faces fraud lawsuit by Florida coupl...

California man convicted of execution-style slaying of German tourist in 1996 to be released from prison

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

A 46-year-old man who has spent nearly 28 years in prison for the headline-grabbing, execution-style slaying of a German tourist near Idyllwild may soon be free.The California Board of Parole Hearings on Tuesday, June 20, reaffirmed a two-member panel’s December recommendation to parole Thongxay Nilakout, who in 1994 fatally shot and robbed 64-year-old Gisela Pfleger and wounded her husband, Klaus Pfleger, who was 62 at the time.In May, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the full parole board to review the panel’s recommendation to ensure Nilakout’s release doesn’t pose a public safety danger.Newsom cited Nilakout’s prison psychological evaluation as the reason for the review.“The psychologist found that Mr. Nilakout’s deficits in awareness and understanding related to the … crime and other more recent negative behavior remain present, but seem to be decreasing,” Newsom said in ordering the full board review. “While this is an encouraging sign that Mr. Nilakout has made progress in rehabilit...

Opinion: Why is Biden silent on Modi and India’s slide toward autocracy?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

India’s democracy is in danger. There is no sound moral, political or economic case for President Joe Biden and other democratic leaders to pretend this isn’t happening.Yet the red carpets keep being rolled out. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be welcomed for a lavish state dinner at the White House on Thursday aimed at fostering a “free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific” region.On India’s current trajectory toward repression, this will be impossible to achieve, in the Indo-Pacific or in India itself. The country now ranks 161st on the World Press Freedom Index. Freedom House and the Economist Intelligence Unit say it is no longer a fully free democracy.This matters to us all. India is in effect the world’s biggest swing state in the struggle between democracies and autocracies. It is both the world’s largest democracy and a vital ally of the West in its rivalry with China.The challenge for Biden and other world leaders is how to get a genuine win for democrac...

Correction: Lebanon-UNRWA story

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — In a story published June 20, 2023, about the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians, The Associated Press erroneously reported that donors at a pledging conference earlier this month provided only $107 million in new funds. The donors actually pledged $115.2 million, of which only $13.2 million were new funds.Source

Swiss central bank urges review of ‘too big to fail’ bank safeguards after Credit Suisse debacle

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Switzerland’s central bank said the government and regulators should carry out an in-depth review of rules aimed at preventing disastrous bank collapses, saying key guardrails failed to prevent Credit Suisse from needing to be rescued by Swiss competitor UBS.The Swiss National Bank scrutinized several of the safeguards imposed in the wake of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis that were aimed at preventing a repeat. The central bank concluded that several “too big to fail” rules designed to avoid the collapse of a major global bank were inadequate and may even have delayed action to ward off disaster.“Looking forward, the experience with Credit Suisse shows the need for a review of the TBTF framework in order to facilitate early intervention,” the central bank said in its annual financial stability report published Thursday. “It is now up to the authorities to carry out an in-depth review and draw lessons, also in view of the higher systemic importa...

IOC banishes boxing governing body from Olympics, but the sport will still be at the Paris Games

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:49:01 GMT

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The International Boxing Association was banished from the Olympic family on Thursday, ending a years-long dispute fueled by defying advice and instructions from the IOC. Boxing, however, will keep its status as an Olympic sport at the 2024 Paris Games.The International Olympic Committee voted to derecognize the IBA at a specially called meeting — an outcome that was inevitable after being recommended two weeks ago by the executive board, a body chaired by IOC president Thomas Bach.The vote was 69-1, with 10 members abstaining.Boxing was never really in danger of being kicked out of the Olympics over the four years since the IOC suspended the sport’s governing body in an effort to force changes.“We highly value the sport of boxing. We have an extremely serious problem with IBA because of their governance,” Bach told IOC members during their online meeting.The dispute centered on the IBA’s management under presidents from Uzbekistan and Russia who t...