First snow of the season falling at Tahoe, Yosemite

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:42 GMT

First snow of the season falling at Tahoe, Yosemite It’s not time to break out the skis just yet.But in a symbolic turning of the page for California’s annual weather story, the first measurable snow of the winter season began to fall Wednesday in the Sierra Nevada.Flurries were visible by mid-day at Donner Summit along Interstate 80. Forecasters said that 1 to 2 inches were expected overnight around mountain passes, with 2 to 4 inches possible at higher elevations above 8,000 feet, and 6 inches on Mount Lassen in far Northern California.Most of the snow will melt by Thursday, meteorologists said. And Tahoe area ski resorts aren’t scheduled to open for another month.But the fact that temperatures were forecast to fall into the 30s, and even 20s at higher elevations as a storm came in from the Pacific Northwest was causing a stir.“It is an early season system,” said Katrina Hand, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “We don’t have cold, cold air yet, so the snow levels ar...

Historic nude resort in the Bay Area hills is put up for sale

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:42 GMT

Historic nude resort in the Bay Area hills is put up for sale LOS GATOS — A historic nude resort with a “spectacular” hillside setting in Los Gatos is being put up for sale by its long-time owner who has decided that it’s time to move on from owning and operating the beloved site.Lupin Lodge, founded during the Great Depression, has for decades been a magnet for social nudity enthusiasts and naturists.But now the lodge and its 112 bucolic acres perched in the Los Gatos hills are up for sale.“It’s a spectacular place, a beautiful property and a great community,” said Lori Kay Stout, the current owner and operator of Lupin Lodge.Founded in 1935 on the site of an old winery that was forced to close due to Prohibition, the naturist resort has survived economic collapses, a world war, creditors, recessions, wildfires and other adversity.The Stout family has owned the property and the resort since 1977.After her husband, Glyn Stout, passed away in 2015, Lori Kay became the sole owner and operator of Lupin Lo...

Single family residence in Palo Alto sells for $4.2 million

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:42 GMT

Single family residence in Palo Alto sells for $4.2 million 730 Josina Avenue – Google Street ViewA 2,630-square-foot house built in 1950 has changed hands. The spacious property located in the 700 block of Josina Avenue in Palo Alto was sold on Oct. 6, 2023. The $4,150,000 purchase price works out to $1,578 per square foot. This two-story home offers a capacious living environment with its four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Inside, a fireplace enhances the ambiance of the living area. In addition, the house provides a one-car garage.Additional houses have recently changed hands nearby:A 1,738-square-foot home on the 700 block of Barron Avenue in Palo Alto sold in September 2022, for $2,860,000, a price per square foot of $1,646. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On Barron Avenue, Palo Alto, in May 2023, a 979-square-foot home was sold for $2,260,000, a price per square foot of $2,308. The home has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.In August 2023, a 1,291-square-foot home on Cass Way in Palo Alto sold for $2,580,000, a price per square foot o...

Fremont hotel guests recount fatal shooting inside room, as police detail how investigation went from suicide to murder

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:42 GMT

Fremont hotel guests recount fatal shooting inside room, as police detail how investigation went from suicide to murder A 24-year-old man was held to answer on charges of killing his girlfriend in a case where prosecutors say he immediately began working on a suicide cover-up story, court records show.Nolan Hurd was ordered to stand trial on a charge of murdering 20-year-old Nikha Marcella DeGuzman in a shooting at Room 219 of the Good Nite Inn in Fremont. At Hurd’s August preliminary hearing, hotel guests testified to hearing an argument, followed by a shot, followed by a man screaming for “help” after about a minute went by.As guests trickled out into a courtyard at the hotel, they witnessed DeGuzman frantically running from the room, with Hurd following her a few moments later, they testified. He began yelling for help and attempting to revive her, one woman said on the witness stand.“I remember him crying. He was real hysterical,” Chanel Henderson, a guest in an adjacent room at the hotel, testified.Henderson’s then boyfriend, Edgar Casillas, testified that Hur...

A Michelin Bib Gourmand Mexican restaurant is set to open in Emeryville

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:42 GMT

A Michelin Bib Gourmand Mexican restaurant is set to open in Emeryville The dining scene at the Bay Street Emeryville shopping mall continues to get more interesting with the arrival of Flores, a Mexican restaurant whose San Francisco location has received a Michelin Bib Gourmand award.Flores is set to open Nov. 3 at 5614 Bay St., Suite 244, right by the new pizza-and-hot-wings joint Arthur Mac’s Little Snack. Soon it will have company in the shopping mall from a Fogo de Chão, which is nearing completion judging from its facade work this week, as well as a Mumu Hot Pot specializing in interactive dining with meat and vegetables cooked at the table.Flores comes from the Back of the House restaurant group, which aside from the San Francisco flagship runs a third Flores in Corte Madera. The Emeryville restaurant will be split into two: a full-service restaurant and, next door, a Flores Taqueria offering grab-and-go tacos, bowls and salads. It’s a bit like a Chipotle in that customers can make their own meals by selecting beans, rice, pico de gallo, a...

Photos: Robin Williams’ Sea Cliff mansion in San Francisco listed for $25 million

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:42 GMT

Photos: Robin Williams’ Sea Cliff mansion in San Francisco listed for $25 million The San Francisco mansion of the late legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams is for sale for $25 million.The San Francisco home of the late legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams is for sale. (Open Homes) Williams and his second wife, Marsha Garces Williams, raised their three children in the home; Garces Williams currently resides there.The San Francisco home of the late legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams is for sale. (Open Homes) The 10,598-square-foot Sea Cliff property has six bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms and was almost entirely rebuilt in the early 1990s, according to listing agent Steven Mavromihalis with Compass.The San Francisco home of the late legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams is for sale. (Open Homes) “(The Williams family) took great pains to preserve the rare and valuable building materials used in 1926, which are simply no longer available in the construction of modern homes,” according to a statement by...

Bob Melvin introduced as SF Giants’ manager in ‘surreal moment’ for Bay Area native

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:42 GMT

Bob Melvin introduced as SF Giants’ manager in ‘surreal moment’ for Bay Area native SAN FRANCISCO — In Gabe Kapler’s four years here, he came to enjoy nights when the moon was full. From his perch in the third-base dugout, its glow would slowly rise over the brick wall in right field, catching the attention of the former Giants manager. It’s a vantage point inaccessible from the visitor’s dugout along the first base line, so Bob Melvin was always left to his imagination.And, yes, the Menlo Park-raised, Berkeley-educated former Giants catcher admitted Wednesday morning, it did cross his imagination. He thought about the possibility of one day occupying the home dugout as he ran the stadium stairs before the first game of his teams’ series here. He slid down the slide in the Coca Cola bottle beyond left field, at least until they roped it off, dreaming about the chance to do it 81 times a year.“At least once every time I was here,” Melvin said, taking in that view beyond the right field wall from the suite level above third base, M...

New House speaker once argued for criminalizing gay sex

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:42 GMT

New House speaker once argued for criminalizing gay sex By Andrew Kaczynski and Allison Gordan | CNNSpeaker of the House Mike Johnson has a history of harsh anti-gay language from his time as an attorney for a socially conservative legal group in the mid-2000s.In editorials that ran in his local Shreveport, Louisiana, paper, The Times, Johnson called homosexuality a “inherently unnatural” and “dangerous lifestyle” that would lead to legalized pedophilia and possibly even destroy “the entire democratic system.”And, in another editorial, he wrote, “Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do,” he wrote. “This is a free country, but we don’t give special protections for every person’s bizarre choices.”At the time, Johnson was an attorney and spokesman for Alliance Defense Fund, known today as Alliance Defending Freedom, where he also authored his opposition to the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas – which overturned state laws that criminalized homosexual activity between cons...

Borenstein: With U.S. House speaker fight over, the real chaos begins

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:42 GMT

Borenstein: With U.S. House speaker fight over, the real chaos begins The unprecedented three-week Republican search for a new House speaker ended Wednesday. Now the real chaos begins.In the end, GOP members unified behind Rep. Mike Johnson, a little-known social conservative who supports a national abortion ban, opposes federal recognition of same-sex marriages and led efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.It should serve as a stark reminder that much of the nation doesn’t share the political values of the Bay Area and most of California. That Donald Trump is now fully in control of the Republican Party. And that any hope that moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats could somehow unify behind a speaker and work on bipartisan solutions was fantasy.Johnson, in his first remarks after the vote electing him speaker, promised Republicans would “serve the people of this country. We’re going to restore their faith in this Congress.”But it’s doubtful he means all the people. It remains to be seen whether he will work with Democrats or without the...

Pregnant woman killed in San Jose hit-and-run crash, baby survives

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:42 GMT

Pregnant woman killed in San Jose hit-and-run crash, baby survives (KRON) -- A pregnant woman suffered fatal injuries when her car was struck by a stolen vehicle on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose, police said. Her baby was delivered through an emergency surgery, however, the newborn remained in critical condition on Wednesday, police said.The deadly crash happened at 8:42 p.m. Tuesday. A stolen 2013 white Hyundai sedan collided with the woman's 2008 black Nissan sedan at the intersection of Winefield Boulevard and Blossom Hill Road.Two men bolted out of the stolen car immediately after the collision and fled the scene, according to San Jose Police Sgt. Jorge Garibay. Police are still looking for the hit-and-run driver. "The pregnant female driver was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries where she was subsequently pronounced deceased. Emergency surgery was initiated on the driver and her child was successfully delivered but remains in critical condition," Garibay wrote. The victim's name will be released by the Santa Clara C...