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How do I cut back on drinking? 10 tips for a successful Dry January

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:33 GMT

If you’ve decided to take a month away from drinking, you’re likely not alone. About 15% of U.S. adults reported they would participate in Dry January last year.The popularity of Dry January and Sober October brings certain advantages: bars are more likely to have a mocktail selection than they were a decade ago, and your friends will have heard of the concept of a dry month, even if they aren’t interested in trying one themselves.But changing habits around alcohol is still challenging, and the odds of success are higher if you go in with a plan, said Dr. Jeremy Kidd, a member of the American Psychiatric Association’s addiction council.While many people can stop or curtail drinking on their own, others need support from a doctor or mental health professional, he said.Dry January presents an opportunity for people to reconsider the role alcohol plays in their lives, he noted, but the same strategies work regardless of the season.Kidd recommended the following ...

Office space, “zombie buildings” key risk to Colorado’s economic outlook in 2024

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:33 GMT

Commercial real estate represents an anchor that is likely to only grow heavier in the months ahead as apartments join office space in stressing banks and weighing on the larger economy.“Office is a four-letter word right now,” said Marcel Arsenault, CEO and founder of Louisville-based Real Capital Solutions, while moderating a panel on commercial real estate at the Colorado Business Economic Outlook Forum, hosted by University of Colorado Boulder in early December.Falling interest rates might provide some relief, but they won’t reverse the reluctance lenders have when it comes to refinancing the massive amount of commercial real estate loans coming due, loans that were made when property values were much higher and interest rates much lower.The share of available office space in downtown Denver crossed 30% in the third quarter, marking the highest vacancy levels since 1990 when the state was coping with a severe energy bust.So-called “zombie” buildings...

Definition of child abuse in Colorado law should be narrowed, task force finds

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:33 GMT

A statewide task force created to reform Colorado’s mandatory reporting laws cannot do so without first asking lawmakers to change the state’s definition of criminal child abuse and neglect, members wrote in a 12-page report published this week.Colorado’s definition of criminal child abuse and neglect is too broad and should be narrowed to avoid conflating circumstances like poverty or homelessness with neglect and abuse, the task force members wrote in the report, which was published after the first year of the group’s two-year effort to reform the state’s mandatory reporting laws.The group plans to meet for 11 hours in January and February in order to create recommendations for change in the child abuse statute, according to the report, which noted that the laws around child abuse in some states are more nuanced than Colorado’s, and are better designed to ensure cultural differences and socioeconomic statuses don’t drive unfounded child ab...

Tree uprooted, power lines downed amid gusty San Fernando Valley winds

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:33 GMT

A large tree was toppled in one neighborhood and power lines were knocked down as gusty winds hit the San Fernando Valley overnight.Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties were most impacted by the powerful winds, which came on the heels of Wednesday's rain storm, KTLA Meteorologist Henry DiCarlo said. A large tree toppled amid strong winds in a Sherman Oaks neighborhood on Jan. 4, 2024. (RMG News)Video Thursday morning showed a downed tree in the 4700 block of Noble Avenue nearly hit a home and several parked cars in Sherman Oaks.Power lines were also toppled in nearby neighborhoods, leaving hundreds without power. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said 217 customers were without power during Thursday's early morning hours. Southern California Edison reported 236 customers without power in Los Angeles County. Bioluminescent algae lighting up the Southern California coast The gusty winds are expected to continue through Thursday, with wind advisories in place f...

Found: Largest male specimen of world's most poisonous spider

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:33 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — With fangs that could pierce a human fingernail, the largest male specimen of the world's most poisonous arachnid has found a new home at the Australian Reptile Park where it will help save lives after a member of the public discovered it by chance.The deadly Sydney funnel-web spider dubbed “Hercules” was found on the Central Coast, about 50 miles north of Sydney, and was initially given to a local hospital, the Australian Reptile Park said in a statement Thursday.Spider experts from the nearby park retrieved it and soon realized it was the largest male specimen ever received from the public in Australia.The spider measured 7.9 centimeters (3.1 inches) from foot to foot, surpassing the park’s previous record-holder from 2018, the male funnel-web named “Colossus".Sydney funnel-web spiders usually range in length from one to five centimeters, with females being generally larger than their male counterparts but not as deadly. They are predominantly found in forested areas...

All-Bay Area News Group high school football 2023: Running backs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:33 GMT

ALL-BAY AREA NEWS GROUP FOOTBALL 2023RUNNING BACKSFirst teamKingston Keanaaina, St. Francis, 6-0, 190, juniorRunning back of the year in the WCAL. Ran for 1,309 yards and 16 touchdowns in 208 attempts for a team that finished second to Serra in the league standings.Boxer Kopcsak-Yeung, Los Gatos, 5-10, 170, seniorPAL Bay’s offensive back of the year. Helped lead the Wildcats to section and regional titles, rushing for 1,653 yards and 26 TDs. Also caught 29 passes for 360 yards and a TD.Herschel Turner, Mt. Diablo, 5-10, 190, seniorRan for a North Coast Section regular-season record 2,957 yards and was named offensive MVP in DAL Valley. Finished with 3,027 yards and 42 TDs on the ground.Second teamJosh Gagni, Live Oak, 5-6, 185, seniorBVAL Mt. Hamilton MVP. Rushed for 1,417 yards and 17 touchdowns as the Acorns captured the league championship.Kamarri Robinson, Livermore, 5-8, 175, juniorFirst-team all-EBAL Valley. Had one of California’s all-time great games, rushing for 534 yards a...

72-year-old man charged with threatening to kill East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell and his kids

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:33 GMT

By Mary Kay Mallonee | CNNA Florida man, 72, was arrested Wednesday and charged with threatening to kill Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell and his children in several voicemail messages allegedly left at the lawmaker’s office in Washington, DC.Michael Shapiro called Swalwell’s office the evening of December 19 from his home in Greenacres, according to court records, and left five threatening voicemail messages. The member is not identified in the court documents, but Swalwell confirmed that he and his family were the target of Shapiro’s threats.“I’m gonna come after you and kill you,” Shapiro said in one message, according to court records.“I’m gonna kill your children,” Shapiro threatened in another voice message, investigators said in the court records.In some of the expletive-filled messages Shapiro called Shapiro “a Chinese spy” and a “greaseball,” the records stated.An investigator with the US Capitol Police Investigations Division, Threat Assessment Section, wrote in the court doc...

Second Aryan Brotherhood prison gang member pleads to California inmate murder 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:33 GMT

A second Aryan Brotherhood prison gang member has pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering, a U.S. Attorney announced Wednesday.Pat Brady, 53, of Lake Forest (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California) Pat Brady, 53, of Lake Forest, entered his plea — part of a long-running investigation into the notorious gang — in a Sacramento courtroom, Phillip A. Talbert, who leads the Department of Justice’s Eastern District of of California, said in a press statement.U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller is scheduled to sentence Brady — who faces a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison — on March 25.According to court documents, between 2011 and 2016, Aryan Brotherhood, or AB, members and associates engaged in racketeering activity, “committing multiple acts involving murder, conspiracies to murder, and drug-trafficking crimes,” noted Talbert.The charges allege that AB members oversaw a significant heroin and methamphetamine trafficking operation from their Ca...

49ers: How McCaffrey’s maniacal preparation has kept him healthy to carry massive physical burden

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:33 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Within a week after the 49ers saw their season end in the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles, running back Christian McCaffrey met coach Kyle Shanahan for a drink.“He actually had a second one,” Shanahan said. “He says, ‘Well, I’ve only got four more days left, so I’m going to have a couple for the next four days.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, we just finished up five days ago.’ He gives himself 12 days off and then he is right back to preparing.”McCaffrey is sitting out the regular-season finale with a calf strain, something he said was “minor” and would be pushed aside if the Rams game had any bearing playoff seeding. He and quarterback Brock Purdy won’t play, and there will likely be others.Since joining the 49ers on Oct. 20 of last season, McCaffrey has put his myriad talents on display, and if there’s anything missing in his game, no one has yet to find it. He wi...

DePetris: Is the Middle East in danger of spinning out of control?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:33 GMT

There is only so much a single person can do to control the events around them. Joe Biden is learning in real time that one of life’s golden rules also applies to the president of the United States.Despite holding the most powerful position in the world, Biden is finding it increasingly difficult to accomplish one of his top priorities in the Middle East today: ensuring the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza doesn’t snowball into a wider escalation that draws in the region’s big powers. If anything, regardless of Biden’s best efforts, the risk of a regional conflagration may only grow as long as the fighting in Gaza persists — and if we take Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s word for it, Israel is no mood to stop its military offensive anytime soon.Netanyahu aims to destroy Hamas in its entirety and deradicalize the Palestinian polity, understandable objectives given the depravities of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. But they portend a dismal future ahead for Palestinians in Gaza...