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A wildfire shuttered this Calistoga winery for three years. It reopens Sunday.

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:06 GMT

After a three-year closure, Calistoga’s Sterling Vineyards is set to reopen Sunday with a brand-new gondola and tasting areas.When the Glass Fire hit on Sept. 27, 2020, scorching the earth and triggering structural damages at 23 or more wineries, it seemed that Sterling Vineyards had avoided the fate that befell many of its neighbors. The winery’s popular aerial tram appeared to be intact.But once the smoke cleared, it became evident that the fire had damaged the winery’s tasting areas and the tram could no longer be used. So the winery, which had operated in Calistoga since 1964, shuttered.Sterling Vineyards in Calistoga will begin to offer gondola rides, wine tastings and more when it reopens following a three-year closure on Oct. 29. (Courtesy Sterling Vineyards) But come Sunday, Sterling Vineyards will return to business with a brand-new gondola and tasting areas, according to Luke Magnini, the winery’s director of hospitality, who says the long clos...

Photos: ‘Floating’ Oakland home built for jazz great Dave Brubeck listed for $3 million

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:06 GMT

A uniquely designed Oakland home originally built for late jazz legend Dave Brubeck is for sale for $3 million.An Oakland home built for late jazz legend Dave Brubeck is for sale for $3 million. (Christian Klugmann, Christian Klugmann Photography) The mid-century modern home is cantilevered 16 feet in the air, creating the appearance of a part of the home “floating” above the hillside.An Oakland home built for late jazz legend Dave Brubeck is for sale for $3 million. (Christian Klugmann, Christian Klugmann Photography) An Oakland home built for late jazz legend Dave Brubeck is for sale for $3 million. (Christian Klugmann, Christian Klugmann Photography) The 2,652-square-foot property was designed in 1954 by architect Beverley D. Thorne, who sought to accentuate the beauty of the home’s natural surroundings. The four-bedroom, four-bath home features panoramic views of the bay and was built around a rock outcrop that projects through the center of the house into the ori...

Tropical Storm Otis gathers steam, approaches Mexico

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:06 GMT

Associated PressMEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Otis strengthened to a hurricane Tuesday as it approached Mexico’s southern Pacific coast where it was forecast to make landfall near the resort of Acapulco late Tuesday or early Wednesday.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that Otis was about 145 miles (235 kilometers) south-southeast of Acapulco on Tuesday with winds of 80 mph (130 kph). It was moving north-northwest at 7 mph (11 kph).There was a hurricane warning in effect from Punta Maldonado to Zihuatanejo.Otis was expected to dump five to 10 inches of rain on the southern state of Guerrero with as much as 15 inches possible in some areas. That raised the possibility of mudslides in Guerrero’s steep mountainous terrain.In the Atlantic, Hurricane Tammy continued moving northeastward over open water with winds of 75 mph (120 kph) after sweeping through the Lesser Antilles over the weekend. Tammy was located about 580 miles (935 kilometers) south-southeast of Bermuda. T...

Crews clear wreckage from ‘superfog’ pileup near New Orleans

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:06 GMT

By Kevin McGill and Sara Cline | Associated PressNEW ORLEANS — Crews worked into Tuesday morning clearing the wreckage of more than 150 vehicles involved in a series of crashes the day before on Interstate 55 near New Orleans caused by a “superfog” of marsh fire smoke and dense fog that killed at least seven people and injured another 25.Lance Scott was among the many drivers caught in the wreckage. The 51-year-old had been driving his daughter to the airport when the fog thickened, as if a “white-out on a ski slope.” He slammed on his brakes, narrowly, avoiding the cars in front of him — but from behind he heard “the most horrendous clank of metal.”“It was, ‘Bang. Bang. Bang.’ It just went on… for probably 45 seconds,” Scott said. “As every second went by the clanking of the metal got a little bit fainter, which told me it was backing up — so I knew there was layers and layers of collisions.”Scott turned ...

San Jose Sharks react to NHL’s decision to rescind Pride tape ban

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:06 GMT

San Jose Sharks players and other NHLers will once again be allowed to use special stick tape to show support for certain causes.In a reversal from its previous stance that prohibited players from displaying “cause messaging” on their equipment, including rainbow-colored tape often used during LGBTQ+ Pride night celebrations, the NHL announced Tuesday that players will be now allowed to “voluntary represent social causes with their stick tape” throughout the season.The league said it made the decision in consultation with the NHL Players’ Association and the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition.“We are extremely pleased that the NHL and NHLPA have come to an agreement that allows our players to make an individual choice to show their public support for the wide variety of worthy causes and initiatives supported by our organization and our League,” Sharks president Jonathan Becher said in a statement to this news organization.“This is an important step towards ensuring that our...

59-year-old woman arrested for pimping and pandering in South SF

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:06 GMT

(KRON) – The South San Francisco Police Department arrested a 59-year-old woman on Oct. 19. for allegedly managing a commercial sex operation.An apartment on the 400 block of Cypress Avenue was reported to the SSFPD Criminal Interdiction Unit for a possible commercial sex operation. After an investigation and surveillance, detectives were able to verify activity consistent with the property being an active brothel, police said.  Cruise driverless taxi and testing permits suspended by DMV A search warrant allowed the officers to find two potential victims or workers and two sex buyers. Evidence of an active operation was seized, including a significant amount of money.The 59-year-old woman was charged with pimping and pandering.Services were provided to the workers/victims by San Mateo County’s Human Trafficking Program Coordinator.  Anyone with information on this case or other human trafficking cases is asked to call the South San Francisco Police Department or the...

Nearly 300 Bernie Sanders Alumni Call On Senator to Back a Ceasefire in Gaza

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:06 GMT

Nearly 300 alumni of the presidential campaigns of Bernie Sanders are urging the Vermont senator to join calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. In a letter sent Tuesday, former staffers asked Sanders to introduce a Senate-side companion to the “ceasefire now” resolution in the House; support an end to U.S. funding “for war crimes against the Palestinian people, the expansion of settlements, and the occupation of Palestinian lands”; and to support an end to the blockade of Gaza. The House ceasefire resolution — led by Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo.; Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; André Carson, D-Ind.; Summer Lee, D-Pa.; and Delia Ramirez, D-Ill. — now has 18 members supporting it.“President Biden clearly values your counsel, as is shown by the ways you’ve managed to shape the outcomes of his presidency,” the staffers wrote. “We urge you to make it clear what is at stake in this crisis politically, morally, and strategically.” The group also produced a video appealing directly to Sanders.290 Former @Be...

Man City changes typical pre-match routine in Champions League to get used to an artificial pitch

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:06 GMT

BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Manchester City has changed its usual preparations for an away game in the Champions League ahead of a meeting with Young Boys on the Swiss team’s artificial pitch at its Wankdorf Stadium.City does not normally take up the option available to the team of training at the stadium where it is playing the game, instead preferring to work in Manchester before traveling.However, City flew to Bern early Tuesday and had a run-out inside Young Boys’ stadium on its unfamiliar terrain.Speaking at a news conference later Tuesday, City manager Pep Guardiola said he would prefer to be playing on natural grass but accepted the conditions.“If UEFA allows games to be played here, it’s because it is in good conditions,” Guardiola said.“That’s one of the reasons we never train away but this is an exception. This is why we travel in the morning for the players to feel how the ball runs, how to move left, right, backwards, forwards. That’s why. We’ll try it and the p...

The 49ers need to find their pass rush after back-to-back losses

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:06 GMT

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Few teams in the NFL invest as much in draft picks and money in the defensive line as the San Francisco 49ers.So if a pass rush with players such as Nick Bosa, Javon Hargrave, Arik Armstead and Co. can’t do a better job of bringing down quarterbacks, it will be a big problem for the Niners.That was evident Monday night when Kirk Cousins picked apart San Francisco’s defense in impressive fashion, throwing for 378 yards and taking no sacks in Minnesota’s 22-17 victory over the 49ers. “I mean we have a lot of really good players on the D-line and, obviously, a lot invested in it,” Bosa said. “We have to make plays when they are there. We got lulled to sleep by some of the protections. When those opportunities come, you have to be ready for them.”San Francisco had plenty of chances against Cousins with the Vikings passing the ball 45 times. But none of those plays ended in sacks and very few even in a throwaway or scramble under pressure. For...

GOP picks Tom Emmer as its nominee for House speaker but Trump is against giving him the gavel

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans picked Rep. Tom Emmer as their nominee for House speaker Tuesday as they desperately searched for a way out of the chaos they have created, but the choice was quickly rejected by Donald Trump and other hardliners, leaving it highly uncertain the GOP latest hopeful can win the gavel.Three weeks after Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy, throwing the House into turmoil, they appear no closer to ending the bitter infighting and choosing a new speaker who can credibly unite the GOP majority, lead the party and get the U.S. Congress working again.Dejected Republicans, many hearing from angry far-right callers pressuring them to vote against their own nominee, planned to reassemble later Tuesday afternoon ahead of possible floor action. “We’re in the same cul-de-sac,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the chairman of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.Emmer of Minnesota, who is the party’s third-ranking Republican as the GOP whip, jumped out in front du...