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Fire destroys Malibu-area home amid red flag conditions, prompts outages

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:35 GMT

A fire destroyed a home in the Santa Monica Mountains and left power out to hundreds of residents in the Malibu area Thursday morning. The blaze was reported at the two-story home in the 22300 block of Swenson Drive shortly after midnight and quickly spread to dry brush around the property. As many as five helicopters were used to help stop the progress of the fire, which scorched about three acres. A home burns in the Santa Monica Mountains on Nov. 8, 2023. (OnScene.TV)Power was out Thursday morning to about 230 customers just west of Las Flores Canyon Road in the eastern Malibu area, according to Southern California Edison. More residents could be impacted later Thursday if gusty winds in the area continue. An interactive map showing the outage areas can be found on the SCE website.The cause of the fire was unknown but the blaze sparked amid gusty Santa Ana winds and active red flag conditions in the area. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the Los Angeles...

Arrest made after woman’s torso found in Encino dumpster

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:35 GMT

Authorities with the Los Angeles Police Department have announced an arrest in connection with the torso of a woman found in a dumpster in Encino Wednesday morning.   At a press conference late Wednesday night, officials with the Los Angeles Police Department said 35-year-old Samuel Haskell was arrested at 11:25 a.m. at the Topanga Mall in connection with the crime. He has been charged with one count of murder.  While authorities believe the torso found in the bag is Haskell's wife, they said partial remains are harder to positively identify. “If a murder suspect is dismembering a body, it’s to delay identification,” said LAPD homicide detective Efren Guttierez.They also said they are looking for Haskell’s elderly parents who lived at Haskell’s Tarzana home in the 4100 block of Coldstream Terrace.  The gruesome discovery of a woman’s torso in a dumpster led detectives to a home in Tarzana where three people are unaccounted for on Nov. 8, 2023. (Carlos Sauced...

Pac-12 basketball power ratings: USC on top, followed by Arizona and Colorado

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:35 GMT

The Pac-12 power ratings will appear weekly on the Hotline until the conference tournament, although the publication day will change once football season ends.Pac-12 teams posted an 11-1 record in season openers, an encouraging start that nonetheless requires a morsel of context.Last year, the conference was 10-2 in openers, but the initial success quickly gave way to a gruesome overall showing in non-conference games that impacted its NCAA Tournament bids and seeds.November and March are deeply interconnected through the multiplier effect in the NET rankings.We’ll track the Pac-12 non-conference performance each week in this space.1. USC (1-0)Result: beat Kansas State 82-69Next up: vs. Cal State Bakersfield (Thursday)Comment: The Trojans couldn’t have scripted a better debut for heralded freshman Isaiah Collier, who had 18 points (on nine shots) and six assists. Check that — they could have scripted fewer than six turnovers and five fouls for Collier. But still, a...

Bay Area high school football 2023: Week 12 preview, schedule

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:35 GMT

The high school football playoffs start this weekend across the Bay Area.For the next three weeks, dozens of teams will compete for championships in the Central Coast Section and North Coast Section.After that, champions will move on to California Interscholastic Federation regionals on the weekend of Dec. 1-2, with the winners advancing to state championship games in Southern California on Dec. 8-9.The Bay Area News Group will have complete coverage throughout. If you have not already, please sign up for a digital subscription. Your contributions keep us going.Here are this weekend’s top matchups and schedule:No. 7 Campolindo (7-2-1) at No. 2 San Ramon Valley (9-1) in NCS Open/Division I playoffs, Friday, 7 p.m.: Third consecutive year in which these teams have met in the playoffs. Previous two times in Division II. Campo beat SRV 17-14 in a 2021 semifinal on its way to capturing the title. In a rematch last season, SRV toppled then-undefeated Campo 35-21 in the final. Campo gradua...

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak hospitalized in Mexico City, source says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:35 GMT

By Veronica Calderon | CNNEApple co-founder Steve Wozniak was hospitalized in Mexico City on Wednesday, a source from the organizers of the World Business Forum (WBF), an event he attended in the country’s capital, told CNN En Español.The source said Wozniak, 73, was taken to the hospital at 3 p.m. local time after fainting minutes before his participation at the event.CNN is working to get more details on his current health status.Related ArticlesBusiness | Apple has plans to eventually, maybe revolutionize health care Business | Apple unveils new laptops, iMac and trio of more powerful chips Business | Opinion: California boosts privacy laws, cracks down on data brokers Business | Tech companies are Santa Clara County’s top commercial property taxpayers Business | Apple raises prices for Arcade gaming subscription service, AppleTV+ streaming Wozniak is the tech genius behind the early Apple compu...

The story of Big Junior and other wonders at 5 Bay Area birding sites

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:35 GMT

When famed Central Park birder Christian Cooper wrote that watching birds in the wild opens a window “into the wondrous,” he could have been describing Big Junior and her amazing story of birth, tragedy, bonding and survival.Big Junior is the female in a pair of bald eagles who established a nest this winter at Alameda’s Corica Park Golf Course. But on March 21, when a catastrophic “bomb cyclone” storm lashed the Bay Area with hurricane-force winds, the eagles’ egg was knocked from the nest.Rick Lewis, a Corica Park neighbor and Golden Gate Audubon Society eagle expert, began tracking Big Junior and her partner after discovering their nest on Dec. 29. Lewis and his fellow monitors found the egg on the ground after the storm.“We were devastated,” he says.Lewis shared Big Junior’s story during a recent Audubon Society-sponsored field trip to the golf course, one of many “into the wondrous” adventures hosted by conservation groups around the Bay Area.Rick Lewis,...

7 amazing Bay Area things to do this weekend, Nov. 10-12

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:35 GMT

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a weekend perfect. A warm-hearted comedy to take the edge off. Or the exact-right beer to serve with that heavenly slice of pizza. We’ve got both on tap here, and more, so let’s dive in, shall we?Note that if you are headed into San Francisco, the massive APEC international conference running Nov. 11-19 is going to pose traffic issues. More about that is here. And here is a map detailing the more heavily affected areas.And, as always, be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.1 SEE & HEAR: Great shows are all overDespite the possible complications from APEC, there are a ton of great shows, concerts and exhibits to catch this weekend and beyond, from a new “Barber ...

San Jose: An animal lover’s guide to hanging at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:35 GMT

Even at 16 acres, San Jose’s Happy Hollow Park & Zoo could be considered a hidden gem, tucked as it is behind a gateway along Story Road. First conceived in the mid-1950s, the attraction opened in March 1961, with the zoo added in 1967. Many expansions and upgrades have taken place in the years since.Today, Happy Hollow is partly devoted to gentle rides and amusements for children and partly devoted to the survival of global species, from the adorable (meerkats) to the slightly intimidating (jaguar). About 130 animals representing over 50 species call this home.We took our zoo cues from the youngest animal lovers on a recent visit. Here’s our guide:An endangered blue and gold macaw is a vivid — and loud — presence at Happy Hollow. (Jocelyn Cervantes/Mosaic) Jocelyn Cervantes/Mosaic1 Squawk with the macaws: Many of Happy Hollow’s inhabitants reside quietly in their habitats. Not the macaws. Their piercing cries make them wildly popular with kids...

5 fantastic things to do at the Oakland Zoo

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:35 GMT

Founded in 1922 by naturalist Henry Snow, the Oakland Zoo is tucked neatly onto 100 hilly acres filled with nearly 1,000 animals and at least that many scenic views.The legendary zoological park has a proud history of providing sanctuary for animals that have been abused or misused and helping care for wildlife injured or sickened, often by humankind’s misadventures.Two of its tigers were liberated from an abandoned roadside attraction where they were once part of the cub-petting industry, a lucrative if unethical endeavor. As adults — no longer safe for tourists looking for a cute photo op — they were left on their own, trapped inside cages. Others, including the zoo’s Fennec foxes, Aldabra tortoises and Amazon macaws, were part of the illegal wild animal pet trade, living as someone’s pet until the creatures became too unwieldy for their owners.The zoo offers ways to participate and appreciate its serious side, but there are more ways to appreciate its spectacular sigh...

Can a person live out of a 3×3 space? One East Bay city says homeless must.

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:30:35 GMT

BERKELEY — How much stuff can fit in a 3-by-3 foot square outlined in neon pink spray paint on a city sidewalk?For the handful of people swept off two blocks of the city’s Harrison Street encampment early Tuesday morning, the answer was “not much.”Six hours after backhoes started scooping up scores of pillows, water jugs, clothing and other personal property that didn’t fit and tossing them into dump trucks, Clarence Galtney was one of the last residents sorting through his things.For the 65-year-old, who has lived for nearly a decade along the Harrison Corridor where the Gilman District’s industrial hub and residential neighborhoods collide in Northwest Berkeley, deciding which things to pack and which things to leave behind was simple.“I’m just trying to grab the most valuable stuff and go,” Galtney said, eying the public works crews power-washing and fencing in the sidewalk, slowly inching closer to his camp that’s been swept before.But it wasn’t easy. Whi...