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Denver’s Fringe Festival takes inspiration from Edinburgh

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:02 GMT

In 2017, Denver Fringe Festival founder and executive director Ann Sabbah attended the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. “The mothership,” she called it recently during a conversation ahead of next week’s Denver Fringe Festival (June 8-11).Denver Fringe Fest founder Ann Sabbah: Edinburgh’s Fringe rocked her world and she’s hoping Denver’s gathering does the same for Denver and its communities.Credit: Merritt Portrait Studio, provided by Denver Fringe FestivalEdinburgh’s massive gathering of performers of all stripes is the sort of event that lands on bucket lists. Robin Williams, Emma Thompson, Steve Coogan, Russell Brand, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Rachel Weisz are among the performers who got a start at the fest. Trevor Noah’s stock skyrocketed after he took his show “The Racist” to Edinburgh in 2012.“It was just world-shifting for me,” Sabbah said of her first time there. “I just completely fell in love with the whole idea of it and the event itself. I think on a very gut level and very h...

Border Patrol wouldn’t review the medical file of a girl with a heart condition before she died

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:02 GMT

By VALERIE GONZALEZ (Associated Press)HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — Border Patrol medical staff declined to review the file of an 8-year-old girl with a chronic heart condition and rare blood disorder before she appeared to have a seizure and died on her ninth day in custody, an internal investigation found.U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said the child’s parents shared the medical history with authorities on May 10, a day after the family was taken into custody.But a nurse practitioner declined to review documents about the girl the day she died, CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility said in its initial statement Thursday on the May 17 death. The nurse practitioner reported denying three or four requests from the girl’s mother for an ambulance. Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, whose parents are Honduran, was born in Panama with congenital heart disease. She received surgery three years ago that her mother, Mabel Alvarez Benedicks, characterized as success...

Owner of stolen car tracks down, confronts thief in Apple Valley, officials say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:02 GMT

An Apple Valley man and a witness found and confronted the woman driving his stolen car, leading to her arrest and the return of his vehicle, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.The vehicle owner, an unidentified 64-year-old man, and a witness spotted the vehicle several weeks after it had been stolen and contacted the driver, officials said in a news release. When a deputy located the trio in the 14000 block of Osage Road at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, the owner and witness were "arguing about the vehicle" with Apple Valley resident Desteney McAllister, 26, according to the Sheriff's Department.McAllister was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and booked into the High Desert Detention Center, where she is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail, officials said.The car was returned to its owner.Anyone with information is asked to contact Deputy Montanez at 760-240-7400 or Sheriff’s Dispatch at 760-956-5001. Callers wishing to remain anonymous are urged to call the...

Protesters flock to North Hollywood elementary school ahead of Pride event

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:02 GMT

At Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood on Friday, a controversial few days will come to a head, though it remains to be seen if this will be the end of the debate over teaching LGBTQ topics at schools.For Pride month, teachers will read students Mary Hoffman’s book “The Great Big Book of Families,” which Goodreads called “a celebration of the diverse fabric of kith and kin the world over.”The Los Angeles Unified School District agreed, telling KTLA last month that the event is intended to highlight diversity.Some parents, however, claim the discussion of same-sex relationships and other topics during the Gay Pride and Rainbow Day assembly is not appropriate for children and should be taught at home by parents, not at school by teachers. LGBTQ flag burned at North Hollywood elementary school ahead of controversial Pride assembly They're at the school Friday morning to protest the assembly.An Instagram account called Saticoy Elementary Parents has promoted Friday's protest ...

California bill requiring Facebook, Google to pay for news gains momentum

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:02 GMT

A California bill that would force Big Tech companies to pay media outlets for posting and using their news content cleared another critical hurdle Thursday. The measure is among hundreds of bills that passed in the state Senate and Assembly this week before Friday — the last day a bill can pass out of its original chamber and get a chance to become law later this year.The bill, which passed the Assembly floor with bipartisan support, would require companies such as Google and Meta to share with California media companies their advertising revenue stemming from the news and other reported content. The amount would be determined through an arbitration process. The bill would also require at least 70% of the shared revenue go toward journalists' salaries. Such payments would help local media organizations survive after many have seen their advertising revenues nosedive in the digital era, said the bill's author, Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks. California has lost more than 100 ...

Borenstein: How California teachers can bypass state strike restrictions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:02 GMT

The Oakland teachers strike is over, the school year has ended, but the legal battle over the 12-day walkout that probably violated state bargaining rules is just beginning.The unusual case and a similar one in Los Angeles this year, stemming from a three-day strike of school support staff such as bus drivers, teacher aides and custodians, highlight the power imbalance in California school strikes that left tens of thousands of students without classroom instruction.The system has become so heavily tilted in favor of labor unions that if school workers choose to strike without first following state-mandated negotiation procedures, which include mediation and fact-finding, there’s little district officials can do to stop them.The first arbiter of disputes over the legality of strikes is the labor-friendly California Public Employment Relations Board, known as PERB, whose members are appointed by the governor.Currently four of the five board seats are filled. The appointees of Jerry B...

Photo: Wolverine in Yosemite is second seen in California since 1920s

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:02 GMT

A wolverine seen in the Eastern Sierra last month is only the second confirmed sighting of the animal in California since the 1920s, the state’s wildlife agency said.The announcement Thursday included an image of a wolverine recorded in Yosemite National Park.Two other sightings last month — in Inyo National Forest in Inyo and Mono counties — are believed to be of the same animal.Images and video from separate individuals were analyzed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which determined it was indeed a wolverine. The sighting locations were confirmed through coordinates imbedded in the photos and video, the agency said.“Wolverines can travel great distances, making it likely that the recent sightings are all of the same animal,” CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Daniel Gammons said in a press release. “Because only two wolverines have been confirmed in California during the last 100 years, these latest detections are exciting.”The other sightings ...

Kurtenbach: Answering your questions on Patrick Bailey, Bob Myers, and the sad, sorry state of the A’s

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:02 GMT

It’s been a while since we opened the Kurtenbag. Let’s fix that.Some of these questions are from readers. Some aren’t. Some are from conversations I had with strangers at the dog park. Most aren’t. Does it really matter where the questions came from if there’s a good answer?Let’s get to the bottom of some things:Can Patrick Bailey keep this up at the plate? What happens when Joey Bart comes back? First four-hit game First three-RBI gameWhat a day for No. 11 @SFGiants prospect Patrick Bailey! pic.twitter.com/FwRWv6Jc4S— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 27, 2023Bailey was the kind of prospect that folks in the Giants organization kept saying was going to be “worth the wait.”They weren’t kidding.The kid has been an outstanding receiver behind the plate — 24 years old going on 34. His pitch framing is really impressive, and he has such a calm and confident disposition that seems to be contagious.Catcher is one of those positions...

Suspected drunk driver being pursued by Brentwood police dies in crash

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:02 GMT

BRENTWOOD — A driver suspected of being under the influence of alcohol who was being pursued by a police officer Thursday night died when their vehicle left the roadway and crashed, authorities said.Authorities did not release any details about the person klled pending confirmation of their identity and notification of their next of kin.In a news release, police said that about 7:06 p.m. Thursday a Brentwood officer was patrolling the area of Sand Creek Road and O’Hara Avenue when he saw a vehicle commit an unspecified vehicle code violation.The release said the officer conducted a traffic stop.  When the officer made contact with the driver, the release said the officer observed that the driver “displayed obvious symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol.”The release said that during the traffic stop, the driver drove away in their vehicle and the officer began a pursuit.The release said that after a short time, the vehicle being pursued left the road...

Mother of missing 5-year-old Colorado girl arrested on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:02 GMT

Maha Li was reported missing in Aurora Tuesday. The apparent remains of a missing 5-year-old girl were found in a closet inside her Aurora apartment and her mother has been arrested as a suspect in the child’s death.Maha Li Hobbs was reported missing Tuesday and police released a photo, in a Twitter post, of her mother, Alexus Tanielle Nelson, 27, asking the public whether they had seen the pair.On Thursday the missing child notice was canceled and police announced they arrested Nelson on investigation of child abuse resulting in death, tampering with a deceased human body and tampering with physical evidence after detectives found human remains of a child overnight Wednesday in Nelson’s apartment.Interim police Chief Art Acevedo appeared Thursday afternoon at a news conference on the incident. Acevedo, emotional at times, referred to the victim as “our beautiful little girl” and “our little angel.”The remains were found in a closet after investigators served a search warrant, ...