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Opinion: The ski bum will soon be extinct if resorts don’t act

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:30 GMT

Nearly two decades ago, I moved to the mountains to be a ski bum, chasing snow. I was a stereotype — an East Coast kid pulled west by the promise of bigger adventures and higher mountain ranges. I was also part of a counterculture that rejected social norms in favor of 100-day ski seasons.In ski towns in western Colorado in 2005, risk was everywhere, but in a way that felt exciting. I liked the brag of drinking too much, and I was too naïve to notice harder drugs. Climate change seemed theoretical, and no one I knew had died in the mountains yet.Corporate entities were just starting to binge-buy resorts while I somehow thought that living in my car was cool and I could exist like that forever.But myths are complicated things to keep alive, and I eventually left ski towns to work as a writer, already seeing the ski-bum dream changing. I saw friends struggling to build careers, families and community while still chasing the fragile dream that a powder day topped almost everythin...

Massive fire destroys 60s-era yacht club in Marina del Rey

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:30 GMT

A massive overnight fire destroyed a decades-old yacht club in Marina del Rey. Firefighters were called around 11:30 p.m. Monday to a structure fire at the California Yacht Club in the 4400 block of Admiralty Way.Heavy smoke and fire were seen from the two-story commercial building as the first crews arrived. A second-alarm blaze was declared to dispatch more firefighters to the scene, Los Angeles County Fire Department PIO Fred Fielding said. Two male firefighters were injured while battling the blaze. The firefighters suffered moderate injuries and were taken to a local hospital, Fielding said. Both are expected to be OK, the Fire Department said in an update.Former owner Steve Hathaway said the yacht club had been his home for decades and that his father helped build it in the 60s. “It’s been a home for so many people … we just are so heartbroken right now,” Hathaway said. The fire was extinguished shortly before 1:30 a.m.The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Elias: California utility bills to rise for decades after PUC’s solar move

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:30 GMT

Rarely has the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) seen such widespread opposition to one of its actions as when it voted unanimously in mid-November to remove one of the major benefits of placing solar panels on homes and apartment buildings.Related ArticlesLocal News | Elias: California’s Lara gave away the farm to insurance companies Local News | Elias: Transgender students California’s latest state-local conflict Local News | Elias: Here are the signs Newsom is setting self up for ’28 presidential run That benefit: Any excess power generated beyond what an owner uses could until then be sold back to the state’s grid, meaning that rooftop solar power not only took owners off the grid and exempted them from seemingly annual electricity price hikes but also could be a source of income.Naturally, the big utilities hated this. For Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison and San Diego ...

Douthat: Why Biden needs an immigration deal with Republicans

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:30 GMT

Over the last few months, the incredulous question — How can Donald Trump possibly be leading the polls; there must be some mistake — has given way to the clear reality: Something in American life would need to change for Joe Biden to be favored for reelection in November 2024.The good news for Biden is that it’s easy to imagine developments that would help his reelection bid. Notwithstanding a fashionable liberal despair about how bad vibes are deceiving Americans about the state of the economy, there’s plenty of room for improvements — in inflation-adjusted wages, interest rates, the stock market — that could sweeten the country’s economic mood. (Just sustaining the economic trajectory of the last few months through next summer would almost certainly boost Biden’s approval ratings.)The looming Trump trials, meanwhile, promise to refocus the country’s persuadable voters on what they dislike about the former president; that, too, has to be worth something in ...

Caltrans says Highway 1 to reopen at Paul’s Slide on Big Sur coast in late spring

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:30 GMT

BIG SUR – A full reopening of Highway 1 at Paul’s Slide is estimated to happen in late spring of 2024, according to Caltrans. That estimate makes allowances for some delays that could be caused by geology and winter storms.Caltrans District 5 spokesperson Kevin Drabinski said this is the first time Caltrans has been able to put out an estimated time for reopening.“We are at a point where we’re able to calculate the remaining tasks ahead,” said Drabinski. “We have multiple months of work left to do in an ideal situation and factored in the winter weather.”Highway 1 remains closed to vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic for 1.5 miles between Limekiln State Park to the south, and .6 miles south of the town of Lucia to the north.The rockslide at Mill Creek on Highway 1 in Big Sur, known as Paul’s Slide, has cutoff access to Pacific Valley School forcing students to attend school online only. Paul’s slide pictured on Feb. 16, 2023. (Photo courtesy of CA-DWR)Continued movement of the h...

Marin County woman accused of molesting child

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:30 GMT

San Rafael police arrested a woman on suspicion of sexually abusing a minor.Cecilia Beatriz Alvarado Ramos, 21, of San Rafael was arrested Saturday at a residence on Nova Albion Way in Terra Linda. She allegedly met the victim through a friend and continued their relationship online and in person, said police Lt. Scott Eberle.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Trial date reset for Bay Area attorney charged with child sex crimes Crime and Public Safety | San Jose: Man charged with sexually assaulting child of ex-fiancee, homicide victim Crime and Public Safety | Roblox of San Mateo fails to protect child gamers from predators, sexual content, lawsuit claims Crime and Public Safety | East Bay pastor charged with 16 counts in four-victim child molestation case Crime and Public Safety | East Bay pastor arrested in child sex abuse case The alleged relationship lasted for six months until a parent disco...

Are Disneyland candy canes worth $70 a pound?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:30 GMT

Those five-ounce candy canes that Disneyland fans race to get before they sell out each Christmas season are among the most expensive foods you can buy at the Anaheim theme park.The 18-inch-long candy canes sold on select dates at the Candy Palace and Candy Kitchen in Disneyland and Trolley Treats in Disney California Adventure cost $21.95 plus tax.Candy makers shape fresh hand-pulled candy canes at Trolley Treats on Buena Vista Street in Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, CA, on Monday, December 11, 2023. Disney makes candy canes on select days at DCA and Disneyland Park. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)Candy makers shape fresh hand-pulled candy canes at Trolley Treats on Buena Vista Street in Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, CA, on Monday, December 11, 2023. Disney makes candy canes on select days at DCA and Disneyland Park. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)Fresh hand-pulled candy canes are delicately wrapped at Trolley Treats o...

Why Judd Apatow made a documentary short about Bob Newhart and Don Rickles

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:30 GMT

Judd Apatow has been a student and devotee of comedy since childhood. As a teen, he began performing stand-up and even cold-called comedians and managed to gain interviews with everyone from Steve Allen to Jerry Seinfeld and Steven Wright. In recent years, Apatow has directed documentaries about Garry Shandling and George Carlin. Now he has released a short documentary, co-directed with Michael Bonfiglio, about the long and close friendship between two dramatically different comedic minds, Bob Newhart and Don Rickles. The film features old performance clips and TV interviews of both men along with home movies, frequently taken on their joint vacations. Newhart, who is 94, also sat for fresh interviews, including some with his wife Ginny, who died in April after filming. Rickles died at 90 in 2017 and his widow Barbara died in 2021.Apatow, who is next co-directing a documentary about comedian Maria Bamford, spoke by phone recently about this documentary short. Q. How did this come ab...

Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex and what dog owners need to know

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:30 GMT

Flu and cold season is upon us this year — and our canine companions aren’t exempt. You may have seen recent reports about a respiratory disease that is infecting dogs in parts of the United States.I asked our Chief Veterinarian and Animal Care Officer, Dr. Maria Pyrdek, to write a guest column this week to inform you about this sometimes-fatal disease. Dr. Pyrdek (who we affectionately call Dr. P) writes:This fall veterinarians in Oregon, Colorado and San Fernando Valley reported clusters of dogs with coughs and pneumonia that were not responsive to treatment. Some of these dogs became very ill very fast, and unfortunately, a few passed despite aggressive treatment.These outbreaks were all linked to dogs who had been in boarding facilities, doggie day cares and dog parks, where many dogs were interacting. Similar cases have been reported in LA County and Pasadena, and more cases are expected to be reported in the next few weeks.This disease is called Canine Infectious Respiratory D...

Elderly man on trial for killing 70-year-old woman with butcher knife at California boarding home

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:10:30 GMT

An elderly man used a butcher knife to stab his 70-year-old housemate to death at the breakfast table of their Anaheim boarding home in order to “put her out of her misery,” a prosecutor told jurors on Monday morning.Michael Carl Hallgren (Photo courtesy Anaheim Police Department) Michael Hallgren is on trial for the unprovoked slaying of Lucinda Palms at their shared residence in the 1200 block of North Siesta Street in 2018, a killing that a prosecutor argued constitutes second-degree murder, but that a defense attorney countered should be considered a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.Around 9 a.m. on Nov. 20, 2018, Hallgren, then 64, picked up a butcher knife while Palms was sitting at a dining room table trying to eat breakfast and began stabbing her over and over in the throat, Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue told an Orange County Superior Court jury during his opening statements in a Santa Ana courtroom. He used enough force to break the handle of the knife a...