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What’s Popping Up? Veterans Day Deals And A Hot Air Balloon Festival In The Desert

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:10 GMT

The Breakfast Bar and Beadel Family Foundation, through their Pancakes 4 Purpose initiative, will host a community block party in honor of Veterans Day from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., with an afterparty from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., on Sunday, Nov. 12, at 3404 East Fourth St., in Long Beach. The event will benefit the Kind Acts Factory, a nonprofit focused on connecting veterans with community leaders and civic improvement. Pancakes 4 Purpose will feature food and drink from The Breakfast Bar, a dedication to honor veterans, raffles, a silent auction, games and more. The celebration will continue into the evening with karaoke, live music and dancing. Tickets cost $20 and are available here.  On Saturday, Nov. 11, all California-based Sizzler locations will offer a free lunch to any active duty military or veteran until 4 p.m. Each active duty military member or veteran can choose between a free half-dozen crispy shrimp, Malibu chicken, or 6 oz. tri-tip steak entree. Click here to find your near...

Riot Days Revisited: Pussy Riot’s Punk Opera Arrives at the Echo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:10 GMT

Riot Days Revisited: It’s been clear and obvious since they formed in 2011 that Pussy Riot is not an ordinary band. It’s a collective, performance artists, but their politics come first. Everything it does, all that it is about, centers around activism and manifestos.As such, an interview with a member of Pussy Riot about a forthcoming L.A. show is not going to be a regular music interview, regardless of the fact that it’s sat here in the Music section. Questions about evolution of sound, the gear that is used, etc., seem utterly irrelevant. That’s just not what Pussy Riot is about.It is interesting that this latest tour, Riot Days, is the brainchild of Maria ‘Masha’ Alyokhina, and has nothing to do with founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova. In fact, while they have protested together, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova have never performed together on stage. They each have their own branch of Pussy Riot. Not different versions — this isn’t LA Guns. But different branches.Alyokhina’s story ...

Larry Magid: Beware of ‘smishing’ scams

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:10 GMT

The first few times I got a text message from a stranger that appeared to be directed at someone else, I politely informed them that they’d reached the wrong number.Related ArticlesBusiness | Magid: Smartphone essentials for traveling abroad Business | Magid: UN Internet Governance Forum focuses on AI Business | Magid: Pixel Watch 2 adds health features, improves performance Business | Magid: Polly Klaas tragedy changed how we look for missing children But now I ignore such seemingly misdirected text messages, because they could very well be scams, designed to get you into a conversation and lure you into a potential scam. If you respond, often they’ll respond back in a gracious manner, perhaps with a question, offer or even photograph, designed to lure you into a conversation. It’s all about establishing rapport with friendly back and forth messages that might lead to “oh by the way, check out this really cool website”...

California No. 1 for worker dissatisfaction, by this measure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:10 GMT

Let me introduce to you a noteworthy slice of California’s job market – the dissatisfied worker.It’s this good-sized group of unhappy Californians that helps explain consumer jitters, despite a largely healthy economy. You’ll find them, statistically speaking, in a gap between two job-market benchmarks.Here’s the math: California’s official unemployment rate averaged 4.2% in the 12 months ended in June. In the same period, a very broad measure of statewide joblessness was 8.7%.Remember, joblessness is measured by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which polls workers. The key difference between these two workplace yardsticks is two groups: “discouraged” workers – the people who are not in the official workforce but who would work if offered a job – and the “underemployed” workers – those folks with part-time gigs who want full-time work.My trusty spreadsheet found California’s 4.5-percentage point gap between these two rates to be the largest among the states.Next in the dissatisfac...

California says electric cars now make up a fifth of auto sales

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:10 GMT

By Dana Hull | BloombergOne out of every five cars sold in California is now powered by a battery, registration data released Wednesday by the California New Car Dealers Association shows.In the first nine months of 2023, electric vehicles accounted for 21.5% of cars sold in California, a figure that’s more than doubled in the past two years. When combined with hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles, the year-to-date figure is 35.4%.California has long been a champion of electric cars, and Governor Gavin Newsom said he’ll phase out sales of new, gasoline-powered cars by 2035 as part of the state’s fight against climate change. Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. was founded in the state, and the EV adoption curve has accelerated faster in California than in other parts of the country.Battery-powered cars make up only 7.4% of the overall US auto market, the California report said.That’s helped the state defy some of the gloom now facing the broader EV market. Both Tesla and conventional au...

15-year-old Palo Alto girl reported missing has been located

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:10 GMT

(KRON) -- A 15-year-old girl who was reported missing has been found safely, the Palo Alto Police Department announced Thursday morning. The girl left her home Tuesday night at about 8 p.m. before being located overnight Thursday.The girl did not have a phone on her when she went missing, police said.

No. 21 Tulane visits East Carolina looking to stay unbeaten in AAC race

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:10 GMT

No. 21 Tulane (7-1, 4-0 American Athletic Conference, No. 24 in CFP) at East Carolina (1-7, 0-4), Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)Line: Tulane by 17 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.Series record: ECU leads 12-7.WHAT’S AT STAKE?The Green Wave’s current ranking is the highest of the season and the third straight week of being in the AP Top 25 since returning Oct. 15. Tulane is the league’s only ranked team, yet it finds itself in a three-way tie atop the league (with Atlantic Coast Conference-bound SMU and UTSA) and can’t afford a stumble. As for the Pirates, the goal is just to find any type of positive momentum. KEY MATCHUPTulane’s offense against ECU’s defense. Tulane ranks ranks fifth in the AAC in scoring (30.6) and seventh in total offense (405.9). The Green Wave’s offense has put up five straight outings of 30-plus points since two games in the 20s in September. The Pirates’ defense has been the strength for ECU, holding opponents to ...

Kings Dominion owner merging with Six Flags in amusement park deal valued at $2 billion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:10 GMT

Amusement Park operator Cedar Fair, whose parks include Kings Dominion in Virginia, will merge with Six Flags Entertainment, whose parks include Six Flags America in Maryland, in an all-stock deal valued at $2 billion.The companies call the deal a merger of equals. Cedar Fair shareholders will own 51.2% of the combined company, while Six Flags shareholders will own 48.8%. Both companies’ boards have approved the deal. It still needs shareholder approval.The newly-formed company will operate under the Six Flags name, but adopt Cedar Fair’s New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol “FUN.”Combined, the company will operate 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks and nine resort properties in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.Amusement parks had a good summer this year. Six Flags parks drew 9.3 million visitors in the third quarter, up 16% from a year ago. Cedar Fair’s parks had 12.4 million visitors in the third quarter, a 1% increase.“Six Flags and Cedar Fair shar...

UAW members at the first Ford plant to go on strike vote overwhelmingly to approve new contract

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:10 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Autoworkers at the first Ford factory to go on strike have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a tentative contract agreement reached with the company. Members of Local 900 at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, west of Detroit voted 81% in favor of the four year-and-eight month deal, according to Facebook postings by local members on Thursday.Two union officials confirmed the accuracy of the percentage Thursday. Neither wanted to be identified because the vote totals had not been made public.About 3,300 United Auto Workers union members went on strike at the plant Sept. 15 after the union’s contract with Ford expired. They remained on the picket lines until Oct. 25, when the union announced the tentative deal with Ford.Production workers voted 81% to ratify the deal, while skilled trades workers voted 90% in favor. Voting at Ford will continue through Nov. 17. Local union leaders from across the country at Jeep maker Stellantis are meeting in Detroit T...

The NBA’s In-Season Tournament is finally set to begin, giving teams another trophy shot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:10 GMT

Someone asked San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich this week about the chances the Spurs and rookie Victor Wembanyama have of winning the NBA Finals this year.Popovich politely laughed. “Talking about the Spurs and the finals is premature,” he said.But there is another trophy the Spurs — and every other team in the league — have a chance at winning. The NBA’s In-Season Tournament starts Friday, after years of planning by Commissioner Adam Silver to have a second trophy for teams to compete for during the season. He’s likened it to what happens in global soccer and thinks having something besides the end-of-season title will heighten interest.“It’s exciting for everybody,” Popovich said. “You have to understand: all these guys are very competitive. It doesn’t matter what team. They’ve been competitive all their lives to reach this level of basketball. If you put something out there like this, it just adds to that competitiveness and really signals what might...