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7 terrific Bay Area things to do over New Year’s weekend, Dec. 29-Jan. 1

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:12:00 GMT

Whether you’re aiming to ring in 2024 at home or on the town, we have some great ideas to add to your weekend plans. So let’s get to it, shall we?As always, be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.1 SEE & HEAR: Great shows are all overWhether you’re looking to rock out or laugh your fool head off (both solid objectives, in our book), this weekend offers lots of options. And if you’re still formalizing your New Year’s Eve plans, here’s a handy roundup of who’s playing where to ring in 2024.2 COOK & EAT: Get a head start …It’s a resolution a lot of us make every year — we’ll cook at home more and we’ll eat healthier. Well, Orinda cookbook author and former...

Share the Spirit: A unique roommate finder helps Bay Area seniors stay in homes

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:12:00 GMT

Snezhanka Stefanova was in a serious bind before she met Jeanne Falla.Related ArticlesHousing | Share the Spirit: After years in the foster system, a young woman gets a room of her own Housing | Share the Spirit: How one Concord garden made a world of difference, and a reason to get out of bed Housing | From stories to action: Share the Spirit readers respond Housing | Share the Spirit: Stepping out of the darkness and into the light Housing | Share the Spirit: ‘Bags of Hope’ nourish families holding vigil over loved ones in the hospital The then-20-year-old would soon be without a home. Her parents planned to move back to their native Bulgaria, but the recent high school graduate had lived in Contra Costa County most of her life. She wanted to start college and didn’t want to leave her friends.“In order for me to stay here, I had to figure out how I’m going to live on my own,” said Stefanova...

Despite billions spent, new data shows almost a third of the nation’s homeless now live in California

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:12:00 GMT

California’s homeless population grew 6% this year to more than 181,000 people–by far the largest estimate of any state, accounting for nearly three in 10 unhoused people nationwide, according to new federal data.The increase comes as public frustration is mounting over California’s struggle to curb homelessness despite unprecedented billions spent in recent years to get people off the street.Experts and advocates say that while drugs and mental health play a significant role, the homelessness crisis will persist until the state can reverse its intensifying affordable housing shortage. Between 2000 and 2021, California’s typical rent swelled 38% while renter income rose only 7%, according to researchers with the nonprofit California Housing Partnership.“California’s homelessness crisis is being driven by the same factors that are driving the crisis in the rest of the country, but driven to the extreme,” said Alex Visotzky, senior California ...

Crash, bang, ow! Virtual-reality injuries rise amid jump in popularity of VR gaming headsets

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:12:00 GMT

The 20-something man walked into Stanford Health Care’s emergency department suffering from a common injury with an uncommon — but growing — cause: He broke his hand while flailing around in a virtual world.Wearing a virtual-reality headset that immersed him in a computer-generated environment, the man had “gotten a little too enthusiastic” and punched a wall, said Dr. Ryan Ribeira, assistant medical director of the Stanford Emergency Department, who treated the patient.“There are a number of VR games where you end up swinging your arms around a bit,” Ribeira said. “When you’re in VR, things feel real. There are experiences where a spider might jump out at you. It can be that you’re fighting zombies in VR and they’re jumping out at you. You may have to jump away or fall on the ground.”RELATED: Staying safe in virtual worlds: What to do, and not do, with a VR headset onLittle data exists on how many people are in...

Staying safe in virtual worlds: What to do, and not do, with a VR headset on

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:12:00 GMT

Broken bones, cuts and contusions: Researchers say these are the most-common injuries as rising numbers of people wearing virtual reality headsets come into contact with hard reality while at play in computer-generated worlds.Recently published Dignity Health research into U.S. emergency-room data shows significant increases in injuries as the technology has become more popular.Major companies selling virtual reality headsets provide warnings about how to use the products safely, and recommend keeping small children from using them. Dr. Ryan Ribeira, assistant medical director of the Stanford Emergency Department and founder of SimX, a startup providing VR-based training for doctors, nurses and paramedics, also provided tips to help VR users stay out of emergency rooms.RELATED: Crash, bang, ow! Virtual-reality injuries rise amid jump in popularity of VR gaming headsetsTo keep yourself and your loved ones from getting hurt in the real world while playing in a virtual one, here are re...

New digital SAT raises concerns about equity

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:12:00 GMT

Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic Vision, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.After nearly a century of using pencil and paper, the SAT will join the age of digital testing by introducing a new online exam in March.But the change is raising concerns within the education community about how low-income students without sufficient home access to computers and the internet will be able to adequately prepare for a crucial test that can decide — or limit — their college choices.“On a practical level, preparing for the digital SAT test requires consistent access to high-speed internet, accurate mock test items, and a physical environment that mimics optimal testing conditions. All of these are harder to come by for low-income students,” said Irene Shih, chief executive officer of Minds Matter Bay Area, an organization dedicated to increasing the numb...

2023: A look back at Bay Area images that made our year

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:12:00 GMT

2023 was a year of joy, pain and complexity.Related ArticlesCalifornia News | ‘It got pretty weird’: The 5 most bizarre moments in tech in 2023 California News | Most unfortunate airplane incidents of 2023 California News | All the things Taylor Swift made us care about this year California News | Bay Area artists released some terrific albums in 2023 — here are 10 California News | Top theme park moments of 2023 There were protests that roiled street corners, and shootings that stole lives. Floods that washed away homes, and wars that changed the world. Concerts that attracted thousands, and festivals that celebrated life.There was death, loss and tragedy. Love, joy and celebration. And through the lenses of their cameras, photojournalists at The Bay Area News Group captured it all.Through this photo series, the depths of humanity in the Bay Area are on full display, along with the beauty and agon...

Person on BART tracks prompts power shutdown Thursday morning

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:12:00 GMT

(BCN) -- A person who entered a BART trackway between the South San Francisco and Daly City stations prompted the transit agency to shut down power early Thursday morning.Around 5 a.m., police were alerted to look for a person who entered prohibited grounds between the two stations, BART said in a statement. Thursday one of the busiest days to hit the road The police activity caused a major delay between both stations in the directions of Antioch, Dublin/Pleasanton, Berryessa and San Francisco. SamTrans also had to provide bus service between Daly City, Colma and South San Francisco, BART said.The transit agency confirmed a suspect has been detained and full service has since been restored in the area.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

New year could bring higher city council pay in CA as new law takes effect

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:12:00 GMT

(BCN) -- A new law authored by state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that will take effect on Jan. 1 will increase pay caps for city councilmembers around the state in an effort to increase diversity among local lawmakers.Senate Bill 329, known as the Council Pay Caps bill, marks the first time that city council pay limits have changed since 1984. Inflation has gone up by more than 300% since then, according to Dodd's office.The law is one of 14 new laws authored by Dodd that will take effect sometime in 2024."No one runs for city council to get rich. But the low levels of pay make it much harder to balance careers and personal obligations with the calling to serve their community," Dodd said in a statement when the bill was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this summer. California police can no longer ask you this at a traffic stop starting in 2024 "It's especially hard for working people and those from diverse or disadvantaged backgrounds. By allowing councils to adjust their maximum pay to r...

Mexican officials clear border camp as US pressure mounts to limit migrant crossings

Published Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:12:00 GMT

MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — A ragged migrant tent camp next to the Rio Grande is a long way from Mexico’s National Palace, where a U.S. delegation met this week with Mexico’s president seeking more action to curb the surge of migrants reaching the U.S. border.But as Mexican officials in Matamoros worked at the camp with bulldozers to clear out what they claimed were abandoned tents, it was a likely sign of things to come.The United States has given clear signs — temporarily closing key border rail crossings into Texas — that it wants Mexico to do more to stop migrants hopping freight cars, buses and trucks to the border.Mexico, desperate to get crossings reopened to its manufactured goods, is starting to give signs it will crack down a bit.That was on display in Matamoros as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico City.Migrants set up the encampment across from Brownsville, Texas in late 2022. It once held as ma...