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Community Leader Outraged by Rapper’s Dropout of School Campaign

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:19 GMT

The allure of New York City during the holidays is something quite special, but my recent family trip there exposed us to a bewildering scene. Grand Central Station was abuzz with groups of teens, known as the “Z-gang,” disturbing the peace with chants of “f%k school” and  “Zmoneeey for President.”With hundreds of gang members out promoting the movement, selling merchandise and urging each passerby to join the Z-list, their presence was impossible to ignore. Outraged by what I witnessed that day, I made a video about the Z-gang and posted it to my social media that same evening. As a community leader based in Philadelphia, a city plagued with poverty and crime like many urban cities across America, the last thing we need is a ‘drop out of school trend’ becoming popular. Alarmed and intrigued, I decided to probe into the origins of Zmoneeey and the Z-gang.Curiosity led me to interact with the most unusual member of the crew, a wheelchair bound, self-proclaimed ‘masked Z-ganger’ ...

Poll: Submit your vote for San Jose’s BART tunneling machine name contest

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:19 GMT

We asked. You gave us over 400 name ideas.The polls to pick the winner are now open!Until Dec. 13, Mercury News readers can vote on the top 10 most popular names submitted for San Jose BART’s tunnel boring machine — a device that will dig a nearly 5-mile pathway underneath the city and create a ring of transit around the Bay Area. Known as a TBM, these machines have traditionally been named after women of local significance, like Seattle’s “Bertha,” which carried the namesake of Seattle’s first female mayor.In nominating the name “Janet Gray Hayes,” reader Jane Horvath suggests San Jose should do the same.“Just as the TBM is breaking new ground in large diameter excavation, Janet Gray Hayes was the first elected female mayor of a large American city when she took office in San Jose in 1975,” Horvath explained as to why she nominated the former city leader who passed away in 2014 at the age of 87. “She championed contr...

More rain headed to Bay Area on Wednesday

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:19 GMT

While the dense fog that blanketed the Bay Area earlier in the week was limited to the North Bay and Peninsula coastlines on Wednesday, most of the region won’t avoid a rainy day according to the National Weather Service.The initial round of rain was expected to arrive by the late morning, forecasts said. As with the fog, predictions claimed that the North Bay would see the brunt of the rainfall Wednesday. Santa Rosa was expected to receive between one-half and one full inch of rain.Other predictions throughout the Bay Area included up to .5 inches in Concord, .5 in San Francisco, .25 in Oakland, .25 in Livermore and just .1 in San Jose. Parts of the Santa Clara Valley were expected to be spared from heavier rainfall by the rain shadow effect, according to the NWS.Rain expected today and Thursday throughout the region. North Bay expected to see .25-.75" of rain with higher elevations up to one inch. Rest of the Bay Area and Central Coast should expect .1-.5" of rain,...

Norman Lear, producer of TV’s ‘All in the Family’ and influential liberal advocate, has died at 101

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:19 GMT

By LYNN ELBER (AP Television Writer)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Norman Lear, the writer, director and producer who revolutionized prime time television with such topical hits as “All in the Family” and “Maude” and propelled political and social turmoil into the once-insulated world of sitcoms, has died. He was 101.Lear died Tuesday night in his sleep, surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles, said Lara Bergthold, a spokesperson for his family. A liberal activist with an eye for mainstream entertainment, Lear fashioned bold and controversial comedies that were embraced by TV sitcom viewers who long had to watch the evening news to find out what was going on in the world. His shows helped define prime time comedy in the 1970s and after, launched the careers of such young performers as Rob Reiner and Valerie Bertinelli and made Carroll O’Connor, Bea Arthur and Redd Foxx among others into middle-aged superstars.His signature production was “All in...

Caltrans working to smooth ride on a stretch of I-880: Roadshow

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:19 GMT

Q: You had inquiries a few weeks ago about plans to pave Interstate 880 north through Fremont. This stretch of road is a crumbling mess that has cost me two cracked windshields. Who is paying for this latest work?This stretch was paved little more than three years ago and almost immediately started falling apart, opening up ruts and potholes, and leaving pebbles and chunks of roadway. It was clearly a shoddy job. So, who pays?Let me guess: The original contractor recognizes the poor job done and is paying for it out of their own pocket, at no cost to the public, right?  Uh … yeah … probably not.— Tim Riener, FremontA: Janis-the-Alameda-County-Caltrans-spokesperson said they have fixed potholes on an emergency basis here. As you noted, the project to fix this part of I-880 will be done next year.Caltrans is fixing potholes now at spot locations on I-880 from Nov. 29 through Dec. 15. The work requires overnight closures on both northbound and southbound lanes between...

Warriors through 20 games: The good, the bad and the ugly

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:19 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — The NBA season is a quarter of the way through, which is around the time coach Steve Kerr feels comfortable enough to hand down some judgments and declarations for where his Warriors team is at.Through 20 games, the Warriors had a 6-2 start, a six-game losing streak, a five-game suspension and two 20-plus-point blown leads. Kerr can draw a simple conclusion through this 9-11 start: Right now, they’re pretty mediocre.“We are what our record says, as Bill Parcells used to say,” Kerr said on Tuesday. “We need to get better and we know that. We have 62 games left.”Those 20 games boil down to mediocrity, but there have been some highs, lows and downright ugly truths that may arise over the course of the next 62 games. Here’s a breakdown of the Warriors at a quarter-way through.THE GOODThe depthA combination of strong drafting, player evolution and sacrifice makes this bench unit as strong as it has been over the last three seasons...

Chinese restaurant leases former Flames space in downtown San Jose

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:19 GMT

SAN JOSE — A Chinese restaurant has landed a lease to replace the shuttered Flames restaurant site in downtown San Jose, offering a potential economic lift for the struggling urban core of the Bay Area’s largest city.Home Eat, which operates a Cupertino restaurant that offers Chinese fusion fare, has signed a lease for slightly over five years at 88 South Fourth Street in downtown San Jose. Home Eat also is in expansion mode beyond the downtown San Jose and Cupertino sites.The San Jose City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the Home Eat rental agreement, which has options for one or more extensions.Home Eat will occupy slightly more than 11,000 square feet on the ground floor of the space near the corner of South Fourth Street and East San Fernando Street. The opening date for Home Eat wasn’t immediately known.“It is very unfortunate to see Flames go,” City Councilmember Omar Torres said ahead of the vote Tuesday. “But what is being offered ...

San Jose airport paves way for overseas airline to resume South Bay flights

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:19 GMT

SAN JOSE — San Jose International Airport has crafted ways for an overseas airline company to resume South Bay flights that were suspended last October.British Airways suspended service between San Jose and London several weeks ago, on Oct. 31, fresh evidence that the South Bay aviation hub still faces turbulence as it seeks to recuperate from coronavirus-spawned economic afflictions.Now, San Jose officials have fashioned economic incentives that might at some point help entice British Airways to race back to the South Bay airport.British Airways and the city signed a termination agreement whereby the airline would pay about $607,500 to ditch the lease early.But San Jose also dangled an incentive in front of the airline in the form of a $303,700 credit against the termination fee if British Airways resumes flights between San Jose and London Heathrow within two years.To qualify for the credit British Airways would be obliged to undertake two actions:— notify airport staf...

Why Stephen Vogt hired 2 former SF Giants coaches to his staff in Cleveland

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:19 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Despite Gabe Kapler’s unceremonious exit from San Francisco, his former coaches have had no trouble finding jobs, including Kai Correa and Craig Albernaz, who both landed on Stephen Vogt’s new staff in Cleveland.All told, seven members of the former 13-person staff weren’t welcomed back under new manager Bob Melvin, who brought in a few of his longtime companions — bench coach Ryan Christianson, pitching coach Bryan Price and third base coach Matt Williams — while maintaining some continuity with six holdovers.All but one — quality assurance coach Nick Ortiz, who often accompanied Kapler on mound visits as a Spanish-language interpreter — have found new teams, with Andrew Bailey, Antoan Richardson and Dustin Lind making lateral moves as Boston’s pitching coach, the Mets’ first base coach and the Phillies’ director of hitting.The biggest promotion came for Albernaz, who jumped at the opportunity to join the staff of his former te...

Walters: Newsom faces possibly historic California budget deficit

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:29:19 GMT

During his much ballyhooed, nationally televised debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom boasted that the state’s economy is “booming” and leads the nation.“California has no peers,” Newsom declared. “California dominates.”About 18 hours later, reality reared its ugly head. The Legislative Analyst’s Office revealed that state tax revenues are running tens of billions of dollars behind expectations due to a slowing economy, creating a monumental budget headache.The dilemma became apparent when the November income tax filing deadline — seven months later than the original date — passed, and tax receipts for 2022 could finally be counted.“With the recent receipt of various postponed tax payments, the impact of recent economic weakness and last year’s financial market distress on state revenues has become clearer,” the LAO authors said in a preliminary report on the state’s fiscal situation. “The postponed payments came in much weaker th...