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Same pay, fewer hours: Golden will try a four-day workweek starting this summer

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:09:27 GMT

Golden will be embarking on an experiment this summer that could prove to be the envy of every working stiff in Colorado: 40 hours of pay for 32 hours of work.It’s part of the burgeoning four-day-a-week movement that’s been given extra fuel by pandemic disruptions to traditional work schedules over the last three years. Golden will be giving the truncated workweek a try over the last half of 2023 with its police department only — for now.“I think it could be the largest single game changer in retention of government employees,” said Golden Police Chief Joe Harvey. “It’s about building a culture people won’t want to leave.”His department of 72 full-time employees, he said, hasn’t been at full strength since 2015.City Manager Scott Vargas said Golden has had “long-standing, long-term employee recruitment and retention” issues, with “many dozens” of city jobs still unfilled. If the pilot program with th...

Fatal multi-car crash closes southbound 405 Freeway

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:09:27 GMT

All southbound lanes of the 405 Freeway were closed in the Westwood area Monday morning due to a multi-vehicle crash that left at least one person dead.Officials said the crash occurred around 3:30 a.m. at Sunset Boulevard and involved four to five cars. One person was pronounced dead at the scene.California Highway Patrol issued a SigAlert around 4 a.m., blocking all southbound lanes of travel.The crash near Sunset Boulevard closed all southbound lanes of the 405 Freeway. May 22, 2023. (LLN)Traffic backups extended for into the Sepulveda Pass, and it was unclear when lanes would reopen. Cars were being diverted at Skirball Center Drive.The cause of the accident was under investigation.This is a developing story. Stay with KTLA for updates.

Will the Roots soccer team ever return to Oakland?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:09:27 GMT

OAKLAND — Amid all the talk of the A’s leaving town for Las Vegas, another of Oakland’s last-remaining professional sports teams is looking to make a stadium deal. And unless they do, the city might lose them, too.Earlier this year, popular upstart soccer franchise Oakland Roots SC trekked a half-hour south of its regular home field at Oakland’s Laney College to play at Cal State East Bay in Hayward.The once-temporary stay in Hayward is now set to last the rest of the 2023 season, with the Roots focused on building a 10,000-seat soccer stadium next to the Oakland Coliseum. Their plan has support among some of Oakland’s power players, as demonstrated at a public meeting of the Coliseum’s stewards on Friday.“It is a very positive opportunity for us to generate excitement and revenue and jobs and goodwill for this facility,” City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said during the meeting.The team has been in talks with a local group that’s on t...

Could your trash contribute to a clean fuel future? Richmond landfill plan says yes.

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:09:27 GMT

One landfill’s trash may soon become an environmentalist’s treasure.Raven SR, a clean fuels company based in Wyoming, will transform a section of a West Contra Costa landfill into a facility that can convert up to 100 tons of organic waste into transportation-grade hydrogen.Tapping into California’s increasing efforts to promote renewable, zero-emission mobility options and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, Raven SR estimates that the 40,000-square-foot Richmond complex may produce up to 2,000 metric tons of hydrogen annually.Vegetation waste from the landfill will be heated until it breaks down and releases energy, without needing to be burned.Mike Fatigati, Raven SR’s chief technology officer, said during Tuesday’s Richmond City Council meeting that the facility will convert the gasses from green and organic food waste into “syngas” — a synthetic mix of hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide and other molecules, using a patented, innovative process called “Steam/CO2 Reformi...

Room rate was $249, but didn’t mention $90 in fees. California bill aims to stop that

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:09:27 GMT

Ted Mermin booked a hotel room for his family of four, advertised online at a reasonable-sounding $249 a night. But when they checked out, they were told there was an additional $50 “resort fee” plus a $40 charge for “incidentals.”There wasn’t a “resort” at the place, and the hotel couldn’t tell Mermin what the “incidentals” fee covered, though he noted it wasn’t the empty soap and shampoo dispensers. As executive director of the California Low-Income Consumer Coalition, he pushed back, and the proprietor waived the additional fees. But Mermin cited it to explain why his organization backs a California bill aiming to outlaw hidden or “junk” fees.“In my case it’s an inconvenience,” said Mermin, who would not identify the hotel or its location. “But for many Californians, hidden fees like this are the difference between whether a person can make it through the month and pay for the ne...

What you need to know about trap plants in your garden

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:09:27 GMT

You’ve probably heard the advice to those who like to go hiking in bear country: You don’t have to be the fastest runner in your group, you only have to be faster than your slowest friend.In the gardening world, trap plants are the equivalent of that slow friend.Trap crops have long been used by farmers to draw pests away from the main crop. Sometimes they are the same cultivar planted a few weeks earlier than the protected crop. This gives them a head start so the pest insects will start feasting before the main crop emerges. They are planted on the perimeter because the marauding insects will encounter them first before heading further into the field. Once the trap crops are covered in pest insects, they are either treated with pesticide or removed.Trap crops can be useful to the home gardener as well. Perhaps you’ve noticed that out of maybe 12 kale plants, one will seemingly collect all the aphids in the neighborhood. Don’t try to figure out what that one plant did to deserve su...

Dead & Company kicked off there farewell tour with a soaring show in LA

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:09:27 GMT

“I need a miracle,” read the signs held by dozens of fans outside the Kia Forum before Dead & Company took the stage Friday for the first of two shows in Inglewood this weekend.“I need a miracle.” It’s been Deadhead code for decades, long before Dead & Company brought three surviving members of the legendary San Francisco group together with singer-guitarist John Mayer in 2015 to keep the music of the Dead alive. In the parlance of the parking lot, it’s a prayer, a plea from the ticketless to the ticketed for a way into the show.Now the miracles are running out. For Dead & Company, despite success enough to fill arenas and stadiums, this is the final tour. What began at the Forum on Friday and Saturday will end at Oracle Park in San Francisco on July 14-15.John Mayer of Dead & Company performs on the first of two nights at the KIA Forum in Inglewood on Friday, May 19, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)Mickey Hart of Dead & Company performs...

Those crazy beautiful, neon glowing waves are back along the California coast

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:09:27 GMT

The bright, glowing waves are back in the Southern California.Photographer Patrick Coyne ventured out in the early-morning hours of May 19 and captured the electric blue waves crashing near the Manhattan Beach Pier.Coyne, of Torrance, has spent the past three years searching for the bioluminescence from Ventura to Orange County, venturing out in the dark of night to capture nature’s light show.The photographer had not seen the glowing waves at the Manhattan Beach Pier since 2020.“The glowing waves were pretty sporadic but bright!” Coyne wrote along with a video posted on social media, noting he wasn’t sure how long they would last. View this post on InstagramA post shared by Patrick Coyne (@patrickc_la)Bioluminescent waves are tricky to track, but Coyne and a handful of other photographers have spent countless hours searching and documenting the phenomenon.  Related ArticlesEnvironment | America’s top 100 secret beaches include 8 California gems Environment | ...

San Jose residential complex pushes ahead with construction loan

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:09:27 GMT

SAN JOSE — A portion of a residential complex in San Jose has landed a key construction loan that could help clear the way for the project to be built, public records show.The project site consists of rental apartments that are being built by Hanover Co. and for-sale townhouses that are being developed by Trumark Homes, according to Erik Schoennauer, a land-use expert who is providing consulting services.The residential complex would be built at 905 North Capitol Avenue in San Jose, documents on file with city planners show.The project site consists of two parcels at the corner of North Capitol and Penitencia Creek Road. The apartments would sprout on one parcel and the townhomes on the other.A total of 32 townhomes and 345 apartments are being planned for the development site.Wells Fargo Bank has provided Trumark with a construction loan for the townhomes segment of the project, documents on file with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.Portion of a residentia...

Woman convicted in stabbing death of Monterey County high school student granted parole

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:09:27 GMT

SALINAS – A King City woman responsible for the murder of a Salinas High School student in 2013 has been granted parole, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.Earlier this month, the California Board of Parole Hearings granted Angela Zuniga parole and a future release date of May 1, 2024. By then, Zuniga will have served nine years and eight months of a 15 years-to-life sentence. Zuniga was granted parole in her first hearing with the state board.It’s been nearly six years since Zuniga’s sentencing in 2016 for the second-degree murder of 14-year-old Ricardo Ruiz – and almost exactly 10 since the case began.According to Herald archives, Zuniga and a female friend took a bus from King City to Salinas on the afternoon of May 17, 2013. The two got off at East Alisal and California streets when, around the same time, Ruiz and four teenage friends were walking to a taco shop at the corner of East Alisal Street and Madeira Avenue.Zuniga, a documented Sureño gang...