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“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is a little waterlogged, but its namesake is seaworthy | Movie review

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:15:08 GMT

Early on in the development of the digitally animated, theater-bound film “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” the story is said to have centered more on the titular character’s family, all of whom are secretly krakens.The pivot to an emphasis on Ruby — a 16-year-old high school student having to hide the fact she is, in fact, of the sea while navigating the highs and lows of adolescence — was a wise one. Although that focus isn’t sharp enough, the movie spending too much time on side characters, Ruby is the biggest reason this saltwater-flavored coming-of-age story stays afloat.Residing in the self-explanatory town of Oceanside, the Gillmans seem a little odd but attempt to chalk that up to their cover story: that they’re originally from Canada. (We’re pretty sure Canadians don’t have fin-like ears, but whatever.)Sam Gillman, voiced by Blue Chapman, Agatha Gillman, center, voiced by Toni Collette, and Ruby Gillman, voiced by Lana Condor, are in the midst of a busy morning in a sce...

Cherry Creek Arts Festival is an outdoor fair that showcases small, creative businesses

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:15:08 GMT

The painters, potters, glassblowers, metalsmiths and other exhibitors who bring their goods to Cherry Creek each year are, without a doubt, the hardest working people in the art business.Not only do they make their own wares, spending countless hours standing over kilns, canvases, looms, blow torches and saws, they also load up their products, assemble their booths and peddle their goods, often with little outside help.In a sense they are fabricators, shippers, merchandisers, shopkeepers and accountants all at once. And getting a spot in the Cherry Creek Arts Festival is not easy: The 255 presenters set to show this year were selected from more than 1,800 applicants.There are rewards for all that effort. The outdoor fair, always held over Independence Day weekend, is the biggest visual arts event on the region’s cultural calendar, and can attract more than 300,000 attendees over its three-day run.That equates to high visibility for any artist or craftsperson — along with a financial...

Woman, young child killed in head-on collision in Van Nuys

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:15:08 GMT

A woman and a young child were killed and several others were hospitalized after a violent head-on collision in Van Nuys Thursday night.The two-car crash occurred on Woodley Avenue between Victory and Burbank boulevards around 9 p.m.Investigators believe a white Honda Accord was traveling northbound on Woodley Avenue and for unknown reasons went into the southbound lanes where it collided with a dark-colored Honda Civic. Two people were killed and several others were hospitalized after a violent head-on crash in Van Nuys on June 29, 2023. (KTLA)A woman in her 60s who was inside the Civic was pronounced dead at the scene, Los Angeles Police Department officials confirmed. A child around the age of 5 who was in a car seat was transported in critical condition but was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The remaining occupants were transported with unknown injuries. Two people in the Accord were also hospitalized. The driver was believed to be in critical condition. A child and...

California researcher gunned down in Mexico

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:15:08 GMT

For four years, Gabriel Trujillo trekked the breadth of the United States and south into Mexico in search of a flowering shrub called the common buttonbush. The plant is native to the varied climates of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Trujillo, a 31-year-old Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley, wanted to know why it thrived in such a range of places, and whether the evolution of the species held possibilities for future habitat conservation and restoration efforts.The research was tragically cut short last week in Mexico, where Trujillo’s father said he was shot seven times. Authorities discovered his body on June 22 in the state of Sonora, in northwest Mexico, days after his fiancée reported him missing.The killing has left the family reeling and searching for answers in a case that has yet again highlighted the rampant violence that plagues Mexico locations controlled by drug cartels.‘THE WRONG PLACE’Trujillo drove across the Arizona border into Nogales on June 17...

After 100 years, Sarah Winchester’s house still mystifies millions

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:15:08 GMT

It was never supposed to be about the house.When Winchester Park opened to the public 100 years ago today, it promised dancing and bands on acres of pastoral land that were meant to become an amusement park. But what everyone really wanted to do was walk through Sarah Winchester’s house on the grounds, a sprawling Victorian mansion that many in San Jose had heard about but had never seen up close.As the Winchester Mystery House celebrates its centennial, San Jose’s most enduring and famous landmark continues to draw the curious not only from the Bay Area but from around the world.“We’re just so honored that 100 years on, this story still resonates,” said Walter Magnuson, executive director of the Winchester Mystery House since 2015. “It’s a little different for us celebrating this milestone, because typically we’re celebrating Sarah Winchester and we’re telling the stories and legends and lore associated with her, but for the centennial we’re really cel...

Gas isn’t as pricey as last year, but starting this weekend, you’ll pay a little more at the pump

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:15:08 GMT

The record gasoline prices that hammered motorists a year ago haven’t returned, but it’s going to cost you a little more to fuel up starting this weekend when the state’s gas tax goes up.California’s gas tax — already one of the country’s highest — will climb 8% July 1, or about 4 cents a gallon or 56 cents per 14-gallon fill-up. The increase will bump the total gas tax on a gallon of petrol to 57.9 cents.In a state with the country’s second-highest gasoline prices, averaging $4.80 on GasBuddy and $4.83 at AAA, that’s going to pinch a bit more.But it’s not expected to change driving habits much heading into the weekend before the Independence Day holiday. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said for the most part, motorists will just “grumble and take it.”The fuel-savings platform says gas prices nationally are averaging $1 less than a year ago in California and most other states, offsetting...

Bear breaks into Colorado home Tuesday, comes back Wednesday

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:15:08 GMT

Tuesday night, a black bear entered a Granby home through an unlocked door. Hours later, it came back for seconds.The most recent break-in occurred sometime between 9 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. Wednesday, said Rachel Gonzales, spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. No one was home at the time.“Bears usually have a hard time with knob-style doors, but this bear figured out how to open them,” Gonzales said. “That’s why we’re always telling people who live in bear country to lock your windows, lock your doors because once a bear figures it out, they can do it again and they will come back.”RELATED: How to survive a bear attack – or better yet, avoid one altogetherGonzales said no one was injured and the damage was relatively minimal, likely caused by the bear searching for food.“I asked the district wildlife officer to rate the damage on a scale of one to five,” Gonzales said. “She gave it a three and said it looked like someone threw a really good party.”To keep bears out of your ...

Opinion: We were held hostage by an airline for a day and a half

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:15:08 GMT

If you’ve ever been held hostage by an airline for a day and a half, I invite you to whine right along with me.My wife and I recently celebrated our 10-year anniversary with a trip to Key West, Fla. The vacation itself was fabulous.And then we spent an entire day and night (and half the next day) sitting in three different airports over a 29-hour span enduring one exasperating delay after another, a stretch interrupted only by lousy food, heartburn and, you guessed it, lost luggage.We dropped off our rental car at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in plenty of time for our 2 p.m. flight home. With one connection, we were expecting to arrive in Sacramento just nine hours later and thus get home well before midnight local time.Yeah, right.First, our flight got pushed back to 2:15. Then it was delayed until around 3:30 and eventually until well after 5. There were a few thunderstorms in the area (common for this time of year), but the excuses we were getting fro...

Apple buys big Cupertino office building as real estate footprint grows

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:15:08 GMT

CUPERTINO — Apple has grabbed a big Cupertino office building in a purchase that points to the tech titan’s expansion mode — a real estate deal that also hints at a feeble office market in the wake of the coronavirus.The iPhone maker bought a four-story office building at 10200 South De Anza Boulevard, a property that’s about two miles from the company’s Cupertino world headquarters at Apple Park.Apple paid $70 million for the vacant office property, according to documents filed on June 29 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.The tech company bought the building through an all-cash deal, the county public records show.The building totals roughly 161,000 square feet and occupies about 1.3 acres near the corner of South De Anza Boulevard and Cali Avenue, a few blocks from Stevens Creek Boulevard, according to property databases.The floors are roomy, ranging in size from 36,000 square feet to 45,000 square feet, which allows for plenty of fl...

Opinion: Rename San Jose street after Filipino-American civil rights activist

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:15:08 GMT

“I’m Asian?!” my son exclaimed.He was 7, and we had arrived at a summer camp on the border of San Jose and Milpitas. “You didn’t know?!” I responded incredulously. As a Filipino parent of biracial children, I have often wondered about this interaction with my now teenage son. I regret my reaction, scolding him for not knowing. The same thing happened to me a few years ago when I told a White colleague that I didn’t know about Larry Itliong until I was 40. “Really?! Even I knew about him,” he said judgmentally.Although I was raised in San Jose by Filipino immigrants, I had no knowledge of Larry Itliong, the first Filipino-American civil rights activist. Itliong played a significant role in forging the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) with Cesar Chavez. He was a strong advocate for workers’ rights and one of the Delano Manongs, the first wave of Filipino men to immigrate to the United States. They experienced severe discrimination and racist violence during the Watsonville riots. Itlio...