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Controversial statue in downtown San Jose will be gone by May

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:59 GMT

San Jose is finally preparing to remove a divisive statue downtown almost a year and a half after a decision was made to take it down.The controversial Thomas Fallon statue on St. James Street is expected to be dismantled by May 4 —  the result of a decadeslong effort from those who consider it a symbol of American imperialism and the persecution of Mexican and indigenous community members. City officials said that the 16-foot-tall, 12,000-pound bronze statue will be placed in storage — and cost $450,000 to dismantle.The artwork, which depicts the former San Jose mayor and captain in the Mexican-American war on horseback raising the American flag, is worth $6,000. City officials said there are currently no plans for another piece of art at the location — and the spot will be replaced with a traffic median.“As we observe April as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month, today’s start of the Fallon statue removal is a powerful statement that the era of the Amer...

Los Gatos revokes commissioner’s censure over ‘rich, white, anti-housing men’ comments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:59 GMT

Los Gatos Town Council voted Tuesday to revoke its censure of a planning commissioner after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue the town for violating that commissioner’s First Amendment rights.Mayor Maria Ristow said at the meeting that the council did not consider Commissioner Kylie Clark’s right to free speech when choosing her punishment.“The process by which we came to the censure was not the smoothest, and we already know we need to look at our process,” Ristow said. “I really do think that the censure was too strong, but it’s where the council landed. The ACLU made a good point that we trampled the First Amendment rights of one of our residents.”The council voted to censure Clark on Feb. 15 after several residents complained that an email she wrote to the state, blaming “rich, white, anti-housing men” for thwarting future housing development in town, was racist against White people.The case caught the attention of the Northern California chapter of the ACLU, ...

Apple readies arsenal of apps for new headset, aiming to win over wary users

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:59 GMT

By Mark Gurman | BloombergApple Inc. is racing to build a trove of software and services for its upcoming mixed-reality headset, seeking to win over potentially wary consumers with apps that use the device’s novel 3D interface.The offerings will include gaming, fitness and collaboration tools, new versions of Apple’s existing iPad features, and services for watching sports, according to people with knowledge of the plans. The roughly $3,000 headset is set to debut at an event in June, with the product going on sale months later.Apple’s hardware products have long depended on having a robust assortment of software — epitomized by the Steve Jobs-era slogan, “There’s an app for that.” But there may be even more pressure when it comes to the mixed-reality headset, a technology that will be unfamiliar to many consumers and very expensive at the outset. Apple will have to sell the world on why anyone needs such a device and how to use it.A big part of the effort is adapting iPad apps for ...

This restaurant is California's most loved brand, according to Yelp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:59 GMT

(KTXL) — Yelp recently published a list of the "50 most loved brands in the United States," and a certain restaurant chain known for its free breadsticks is the top brand in California. “While New York is on a health kick with Smoothie King, Californians prefer their food comfortable and their breadsticks unlimited at Olive Garden...” Yelp said in a post about the list. Olive Garden, a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, specializes in Italian-American food, is headquartered in Orlando and has almost 1,000 locations across the country, according to the company. On Yelp's list of most loved brands in each state, Olive Garden appeared only once, as California's selection.Other national brands that were selected by multiple states as the most loved brands include Marshall's, Smoothie King, Culver's and CostCo. The list contains the most loved restaurants, food and retail brands in the country, which Yelpers determined based on things like "affordability, customer service and consistent, ...

Alice Rivlin’s Forest Hills home on market for $6.7M

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:59 GMT

A mid-century home in Northwest D.C.’s Forest Hills neighborhood that was formerly home to the late Alice Rivlin, the first woman to serve as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from 1996 to 1999, and the first woman to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget before that, has been listed for sale for $6.695 million.It is listed by Robert Hryniewicki, Adam Rackliffe, Christopher Leary and Micah Smith of HRL Partners at Washington Fine Properties.The 7,700-square-foot home, located at 2838 Chesterfield Pl. NW, was originally custom-built in 1956, and recently underwent a new renovation and expansion by D.C.-based real estate development company Coba Properties.Additions included a large outdoor roof deck overlooking Rock Creek Park.The home has six bedrooms, six full baths and two half baths. It is surrounded by mature gardens and trees on a quarter-acre lot.Rivlin passed away in 2019. She was 89.Source

Trump’s former financial chief Weisselberg gets out of jail

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer at Donald Trump’s company, got out of jail Wednesday but might not have freed himself from the legal morass surrounding the former president.The 75-year-old emerged from New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex facing the same pressures he was under three months ago, when he started serving time for tax evasion.The Manhattan district attorney could potentially want Weisselberg as a witness in its historic criminal case against Trump, which involves a scheme to suppress negative stories about the Republican during his 2016 presidential campaign.Some people close to Weisselberg have advised him to do what it takes to spare himself more legal peril.The Trump family, meanwhile, may have an interest in keeping Weisselberg loyal. The Trump Organization is making severance payments to Weisselberg and paying his legal bills.The former executive’s recent decision to switch lawyers, away from the attorne...

Florida board passes DeSantis’ expansion of ‘Don’t Say Gay’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:59 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Board of Education on Wednesday approved a ban on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” at the request of Gov. Ron DeSantis as he gears up for an expected presidential run. The proposal will take effect after a procedural notice period that lasts about a month, according to an education department spokesman. The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity from grades 4-12, unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take. Florida currently bans such lessons in kindergarten through third grade. The DeSantis administration put forward the proposal last month as part of the Republican’s aggressive conservative agenda, with the governor leaning heavily into cultural divides ahead of his looming White House candidacy. DeSantis has not commented o...

Filtración de datos de miembros del Congreso se debió a un “error humano”, según funcionaria

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:59 GMT

La reciente filtración de datos de información personal de miles de afiliados del seguro médico de Washington DC, incluidos miembros del Congreso, fue causada por un error humano básico, según un alto administrador.El anuncio proviene de declaraciones preparadas antes de la audiencia del Congreso del miércoles para investigar el tema. En su declaración, Mila Kofman, directora ejecutiva de la Autoridad de Intercambio de Beneficios de Salud del DC, afirma que la violación de datos se descubrió por primera vez a principios de marzo e incluye información personal básica, incluida la fecha de nacimiento, números de Seguro Social e información de contacto, para “ 56,415 clientes actuales y pasados, incluidos miembros del Congreso, sus familias y el personal”.Kofman afirma que su oficina llamó de inmediato al Equipo de Seguridad Cibernética del FBI y la falla de seguridad se rastreó rápidamente hasta un servidor de computadora en particular que estaba “mal configurado para permitir e...

EU moves to contain internal quarrel over Ukrainian imports

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:59 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union moved Wednesday to contain an internal quarrel over some member nations temporarily banning imports of Ukrainian farm produce, trade embargoes that threatened to highlight divisions within a bloc that desperately wants to show unity with Ukraine as it confronts Russia.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote a letter to the leaders of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria with a set of proposals that she said “responds specifically to the concerns of front-line member states and stakeholders, including farmers, and will allow us to react even quicker in the future.” The letter acknowledged the issues that farmers encountered after the EU lifted duties on Ukrainian grain to ease exports when Russia’s war in Ukraine choked off shipments through traditional routes. Relaxing the tariffs led to unintended export surges and, as a result, lower prices that cut into farmers’ incomes. The European Commission...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ expansion of so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law approved by state board

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:13:59 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ expansion of so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law approved by state board.Source