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Milan Kundera dies at 94; ‘Unbearable Lightness of Being’ author fled Czechoslovakia

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:32:10 GMT

By Elaine Ganley and Lori Hinnant | Associated PressPARIS — Milan Kundera, the renowned but reclusive author whose dissident writings transformed him into an exiled satirist of totalitarianism and explorer of identity and the human condition, has died in Paris. He was 94.Kundera died Tuesday afternoon, his long-standing publishing house Gallimard said in a one-sentence statement Wednesday. It confirmed that he died in Paris, where he has lived for decades, but provided no further information.The European Parliament held a moment of silence upon news of his passing. Kundera held both French and Czech nationality, which he lost and then regained.Kundera was a man of few words whose novels were translated into dozens of languages, but he abhorred the publicity that came with it, refusing interviews.“I dream of a world where writers are obliged by law to keep their identity secret and use pseudonyms,” he wrote in the 1986 essay, “The Art of the Novel.” Kundera us...

3 dead, 14 hurt in Illinois crash between Greyhound, tractor-trailers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:32:10 GMT

Associated PressHIGHLAND, Ill. — A Greyhound passenger bus crashed into three tractor-trailers parked along a highway exit to a rest area early Wednesday in southern Illinois, killing three people and injuring 14 others, some seriously, state police said.The St. Louis-bound bus was traveling westbound along Interstate 70 in Madison County around 1:55 a.m. when it crashed into the three semis, Illinois State Police said, citing an initial investigation.Four people were taken to the hospital by helicopter and at least 10 others were taken by ambulance, state police said in a news release. Police did not immediately release details about those who were injured and killed.No one in the three trucks was injured in the crash near the city of Highland about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of St. Louis, police said.State Police spokesperson Melaney Arnold said those killed and injured were all on the Greyhound bus. She was not sure if the bus driver was among those killed or injured or if all...

After somehow surviving shooting, San Francisco man gets hit with federal gun charges

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:32:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — A Bay Area man with two prior federal convictions for illegally possessing guns is back in jail on gun charges for the third occasion in seven years, this time after surviving being shot in the leg and torso following an April car crash, court records show.Dominic Batiste, 29, was charged in late June with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a federal offense that carries up to 15 years in prison. He remains in jail while the case is pending, after prosecutors convinced a judge that Batiste represents a danger to the community, court records show.The charge stems from an incident in April, where Batiste was shot multiple times after colliding with a Nissan Infiniti on the 100 block of Sadowa Street in San Francisco. Batiste said he didn’t know who shot him and the Infiniti was empty when the cops got there, prosecutors said.A loaded pistol was discovered in Batiste’s car, according to the complaint. In a motion to keep Batiste incarcerated, pr...

Pamela Price defends embattled second-in-command, calls report about him ‘false’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:32:10 GMT

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price staunchly defended her embattled chief assistant district attorney this week after an independent investigation concluded that he blatantly fostered a sexist and toxic work environment at his previous post in Marin County.In a statement late Tuesday, Price hailed Otis Bruce Jr.’s work and took direct aim at Marin County officials for seeking to “impeach his character and publicly humiliate this dedicated public servant.” In doing so, she cast as “false” a blistering, 55-page report commissioned by North Bay leaders that concluded Bruce violated 17 personnel regulations while holding the second-highest position the Marin County District Attorney’s Office.Related: Alameda County DA Pamela Price’s top deputy accused of workplace misconduct at previous jobPrice’s statement did not specifically address the main findings of The Oppenheimer Investigations Group’s report,  which found that Br...

Tech company calculates the cost of work meetings

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:32:10 GMT

By Jennifer Korn | CNNOne tech company is escalating its war on meetings by introducing a calculator that shows employees how much it really costs to force dozens of their colleagues to huddle together for an hour instead of just sending an email.Shopify, a Canadian e-commerce company, rolled out its Meeting Cost Calculator internally Wednesday as part of ongoing efforts to encourage emptier calendars. The tool functions as a Chrome extension built into Google Calendar, showing Shopify’s 11,000-plus global employees the estimated cost of their meetings by using data based on average compensation, number of attendees and length.The average 30-minute meeting with three employees at the company costs between $700-$1600, according to an internal note shared with CNN Wednesday. By getting rid of even three meetings a week per person, Shopify estimates it will see a 15% reduction in overall costs.Related ArticlesEconomy | Elon Musk announces new company xAI as he seeks to build...

Man who left keys at scene of fatal San Leandro shooting gets 10 years, DA says there are ‘issues of proof’ in murder case

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:32:10 GMT

OAKLAND — More than two years after he was arrested and charged with murder, a Carmichael man has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison in a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to plead no contest to robbery, court records show.Wavonte Oxner, 30, pleaded no contest to a single robbery charge, and in return prosecutors dismissed a murder count against him. He was formally sentenced in late June, court records show.In March 2021, Oxner was charged with murdering and robbing 23-year-old Amari Laquan Matthews outside of the Little Namking restaurant on East 14th Street in San Leandro. Police alleged that Oxner and Matthews were in rival gangs, and that Oxner and his friends robbed Matthews of a gold chain, leading to a shootout between them and Matthews’ friends on Dec. 14, 2020.At a change-of-plea hearing for Oxner in May, Deputy District Attorney Mark Bennett said there are “issues of proof as to whether Mr. Oxner was the actual shooter,” to explain why...

Under fire from House GOP, Wray defends the ‘real FBI’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:32:10 GMT

By Farnoush Amiri, Eric Tucker and Lisa Mascaro | Associated PressWASHINGTON — FBI Director Chris Wray defended the “real FBI” during a contentious congressional hearing Wednesday, dismissing a litany of grievances from Republicans who are harshly critical of the bureau, threatening to defund some operations and claiming the Justice Department is unfair to political conservatives.Wray refused to engage in specific questions about ongoing federal investigations, including those involving former President Donald Trump and Hunter Biden. The son of President Joe Biden recently reached an agreement to plead guilty to misdemeanor federal tax charges; Republicans have derided that as a sweetheart deal.In testy exchanges with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, Wray rejected the GOP assertion that the bureau was favoring the Biden family and said the notion that the bureau was involved the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was “ludicrous.”“The work ...

New Berkeley Shakespeare troupe debuts a new ‘Midsummer’ musical

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:32:10 GMT

Older theatergoers might do a double-take when they see that Berkeley Shakespeare Company is performing a musical version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”This is, of course, not the venerable Berkeley Shakespeare Festival that held court in the 1970s and ’80s before moving to Orinda and changing its name to the California Shakespeare Festival and then to California Shakespeare Theater. It’s an all new company with a slightly different name, founded not quite two years ago.“Considering that nobody had actually taken the name Berkeley Shakespeare Company as a whole, it just felt simple, memorable and something that would bring people out to see the show,” says company cofounder Phillip Leyva.It’s a new “Midsummer,” too. It’s the world premiere of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Musical!,” adapted and directed by writer Sonya Baehr and composer Thomas W. Jones.“There’s such a range of music in this show,” says fellow co-founder Jennifer Gallagher, who plays Titania and Hippolyta a...

San Francisco home prices no longer highest in the nation

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:32:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- While still astronomically high, typical home values in San Francisco are no longer the highest in the nation, according to a new report from Zillow. At $1,128,205, home prices in SF are actually down significantly from last year, when they were 7.7% higher.Zillow's report cites a combination of low inventory and higher mortgage rates for increasing market competition in SF. More Bay Area tech layoffs on the way With home values down from last year, some potential sellers have also decided to hold off on making any moves for now. This is further exasperating the low inventory conditions in SF, Zillow said.Compared to last year, there are 37% fewer new listings and total inventory is down 32% from last year. Looking further back, total inventory is 33% below what it was in 2019, before the pandemic.Newly pending sales are also down, falling 5.7% month-over-month and 4%, compared to this time last year.SF prices still remain far and away higher than the typic...

A cemetery for forgotten toys: Montgomery Co. now accepting more electronic disposals

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:32:10 GMT

VHS video cassette isolated on white background.(Getty Images/iStockphoto/amnachphoto) VHS video cassette isolated on white background.(Getty Images/iStockphoto/amnachphoto) Broken drones, wonky handheld vacuum cleaners and VHS tapes that have been sitting on bookshelves for ages now have a place to go — and it’s not the trash.Montgomery County’s Department of Environmental Protection has more options for county residents who don’t want to add to the landfill but who have been at a loss as to what do with things like empty printer ink and toner cartridges.Those items and more are now accepted at the county’s Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station in Derwood.The expansion is possible in part due to th...