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Black history, minstrel themes, collide in 2 S.F. productions

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:57 GMT

Titles don’t get much more provocative than that of Marc Anthony Thompson’s new show at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, “The Ni¿¿er Lovers.”“I wanted to record all the people that called to get tickets at the theater to hear how they solved their dilemma to say the N-word,” says writer-composer-director Thompson. “But the emphasis is really on ‘Lovers.’ This play is really a celebration of a really great journey, and a really great love story.”It’s loosely inspired by the true story of Ellen and William Craft, an enslaved couple who escaped from Georgia to Boston in 1848. Light-skinned Ellen disguised herself as a white man for the journey, while her darker-skinned husband posed as her enslaved valet. (A book about them, Ilyon Woo’s “Master Slave Husband Wife,” came out a few months ago.)“I’ve been reticent to actually draw that connection myself, because we’ve taken just the kernel of that story, and we use it as a jumping-off point to talk about gender, race then, race ...

Downtown San Jose food hall gets big new signs as stealth project proceeds

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:57 GMT

SAN JOSE — “Downtown Food Hall” signs have sprouted for the first time on the sides of a historic San Jose building, fresh indicators of progress for a stealth real estate project being crafted by an Uber co-founder.Even as the signs adorn the former Odd Fellows Building near the corner of East Santa Clara Street and South Third Street in downtown San Jose, glimpses inside the building reveal ongoing work by contractors behind covers that largely block views through the big windows in the old structure.From time to time in recent days and months, construction workers have been spotted walking in and out of side doors and alleyways leading to the interior of the historic building.During times when gaps appeared in the coverings, stainless steel cooking and washing stations were visible through the windows. For the most part, however, the construction remains clandestine and hidden from view.About a month ago, DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats logos suddenly appeared o...

Cruise passenger’s hidden camera recorded 150 people in bathroom, FBI says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:57 GMT

A passenger aboard a cruise ship out of Miami has been charged with placing a camera in a bathroom, recording images of dozens of people undressing, the FBI said.The restroom on Harmony of the Seas where camera was allegedly placed. (FBI) Young children were among those in the several hours of video, the agency said.The hidden camera was discovered by a passenger on May 1, the third day of the Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas’ weeklong Caribbean cruise. It was in an all-gender restroom — one toilet, no stall — that was adjacent to a surf simulator and was frequently used by people changing in and out of their swimsuits.The first images in the camera’s memory were reportedly of the man who placed it above the door, adjusting its angle to focus near the toilet. It then recorded more than 150 people who used the restroom, the FBI’s press release said.The ship’s security personnel confronted the passenger they believed had placed the camera, a...

Is your job ruining your sleep? If so, this may be why

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:57 GMT

By Sandee LaMotte | CNNSleeping poorly due to job stress? That may be due to a lack of support from coworkers and higher-ups, a new study found.However, receiving improved psychological and social support at your job allows you to more easily shut off from the workday, thus giving you precious downtime to de-stress and improve sleep, according to the study.“This study highlights the important role that workplace environment and stress have beyond the setting of work on overall well-being,” said Dr. Phyllis Zee, chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Zee was not involved in the study.“Initiatives to improve well-being in the workplace can improve sleep, but at a personal level, what we can optimize is our sleep quality — which in turn can help to handle stress and ultimately increase resilience to daily challenges we face,” Zee said.Leadership countsThe study, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Ope...

Man who allegedly used clock to record women while they were changing charged by SF DA

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:57 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A man who allegedly recorded several women while they were changing in a fitting room over the past year has been charged by the San Francisco District Attorney. Andrew Hong, 31, is facing six separate counts of misdemeanor invasion of privacy, according to the SF DA's Office.The charges are in connection to a series of reports from customers at Divisadero Heights Cleaners at 1179-1189 Divisadero Street. An investigation revealed that six victims filed separate police reports documenting similar incidents, prosecutors said. 80 vehicles seized in Oakland sideshow Friday night: police According to the reports, a male employee placed a clock inside the fitting room while they were changing and frequently adjusted it during the fitting. This raised concerns that the clock was being used to record them.The victims in each report told police they thought the employee was asking them to undress for their clothes to be altered so he could surreptitiously record the...

Former Cal, Vikings QB Joe Kapp dies at age 85

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:57 GMT

Joe Kapp, the tough quarterback who led the Minnesota Vikings to their first Super Bowl and California to its last Rose Bowl, has died. He was 85.Cal confirmed that Kapp died on Monday. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.After a stellar collegiate career at Cal in the 1950s that was capped by an appearance in the 1959 Rose Bowl, Kapp went on to star in Canada before making it to the NFL. He took over for Fran Tarkenton in Minnesota and led the Vikings to a Super Bowl appearance in the 1969 season before losing to Kansas City.Kapp is the only quarterback to lead his team to a Rose Bowl, Grey Cup and Super Bowl. Kapp also later coached his alma mater for five seasons and was on the sideline for one of the most memorable plays in school history when the Golden Bears returned a kickoff with five laterals to beat rival Stanford on the final play in 1982, scoring the TD with the Cardinal band on the field.Kapp helped lead Cal to the Pacific Coast Conference title in 1958 and a...

Minnesota governor to sign bill dedicating highway to Prince

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:57 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The late pop superstar Prince will be honored with a renamed stretch of highway that runs past his Paisley Park museum and studios, under a bill that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was preparing to sign Tuesday.Purple signs will soon go up along a seven-mile stretch of Minnesota Highway 5 in the Minneapolis suburbs of Chanhassen and Eden Prairie designating it the Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway. Prince’s friends and fans are covering the costs.The Minnesota Senate approved the legislation 55-5 on Thursday and sent it to the governor for his signature. The bill passed the House unanimously last month on the seventh anniversary of Prince’s death.Paisley Park, where Prince lived and recorded, now draws visitors from around the world to Chanhassen. It’s also where Prince died on April 21, 2016, of an accidental fentanyl overdose at age 57. The 65,000-square-foot complex is now a museum run by his estate as well as an event venue and recoding studio.The singe...

Central Bank of Cyprus: Economy to grow by 2.6% this year

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:57 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The economy of Cyprus is expected to grow by 2.6% this year, a full three points lower than the 2022 increase in the island’s nation’s gross domestic product, the governor of the country’s central bank said Tuesday.Governor Constantinos Herodotou said at an economic forum Tuesday that despite the slower growth rate, the forecast compares favorably with the average growth of 1% expected in other countries that use the euro. Herodotou attributed the situation in Cyprus primarily to a decreased demand for loans because of high interest rates, as well as declines in personal consumption and investments.The country’s growth is predicted to rebound to 3.1% annually in 2024 and 2025 thanks to improved domestic demand, exports and tourism revenue, he said.Cyprus’ inflation rate dropped to 3.8% in April, significantly lower than its peak of 10.6% in July2022. Herodotou said annual inflation is projected to drop to 3.3% and to continue fall...

Jury deliberations begin in the civil trial over E. Jean Carroll’s rape claim against former President Donald Trump

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Jury deliberations begin in the civil trial over E. Jean Carroll’s rape claim against former President Donald Trump.Source

Monahan expects top PGA Tour players at some fall events

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:57 GMT

The PGA Tour season ends on Aug. 27. The Ryder Cup starts a month later. And then the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup will not have to play again until the start of 2024 unless they want to add to their trophy case or bank account.PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan doesn’t see many top players staying home.“I don’t think it’s realistic a player is going to the finish the Ryder Cup or the Presidents Cup and not play golf until January,” Monahan said last week at the Wells Fargo Championship.The idea of a real offseason sounds good on paper. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were among those who lobbied for a shorter regular season. Woods in 2005 was lobbying for a condensed schedule that would bring the best players together more often.The FedEx Cup arrived in 2007 and Woods was true to his word. He didn’t play for 10 weeks, returning at his Target World Challenge in December. He won, prompting Colin Montgomerie to say, “If he took a bloody year off, it would help...