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Review: ACT’s long-running ‘Christmas Carol’ goes out with a bang, and a tear

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

What the Dickens! After 18 years of banishing the bah-humbugs, ACT’s current incarnation of “A Christmas Carol” is taking its final bow.To be sure the classics always get reinvented for a new generation but I’ll admit that the news made this theater critic quite wistful. Not to carbon date myself too much but I actually remember when this iteration was brand new, having grown up on the shadowy magic of the previous version, which was unabashedly bleak and political, a product of its age. Long ago, I even played one of the plucky little Cratchit children under the tutelage of Dakin Matthew’s marvelously mischievous Scrooge.Truth be told, I loved the intricate narration that framed that deep and dark production, which was adapted by Dennis Powers and Laird Williamson.The sparklier current version, written by Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh, by contrast, has far more music and more colorful set pieces, a nod to its more ebullient era.Two venerable Bay Area actors, James Carpenter and Anth...

Bay Area New Year’s Eve 2023: Here are 3 best bets for music fans on Dec. 31

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

Here are three shows worth checking out on New Year’s Eve:Lee FieldsThe R&B great has been in the game for a long time, having released the debut single “Bewildered” (with a flip side of “Tell Her I Love Her”) way back in 1969. He’s still going strong more than a half century later, drawing new fans and finding critical acclaim with such efforts as 2019’s “It Rains Love” and 2022’s “Sentimental Fool.” The vocalist ends the year with two shows, Dec. 30-31, at the Chapel in San Francisco.Details: 9 p.m. Dec. 30, $35; 9:30 p.m. Dec. 31, $75; thechapelsf.comBig Head Todd and the MonstersTodd Mohr is a first-rate vocalist-guitarist. He’s also, if we are to take the band’s name as fact, a guy with a pretty large noggin. We expect the former detail to be the more relevant of the two when Mohr leads his platinum-selling Colorado blues-rock band in concert Dec. 30-31 at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park. He...

Vallemar Elementary School lockdown lifted

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

(KRON) -- A lockdown at Vallemar Elementary School in Pacifica Thursday morning due to police activity has been lifted. The school is located at 377 Reina Del Mar Avenue and is part of the Pacifica School District. Serial Bay Area shoplifter arrested 90 times As of 9:48 a.m., the Pacifica Police Department said the investigation remained active but that the suspect is no longer believed to be in the area. There is no immediate threat to public safety, police said.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

51-year-old man dead after car strikes tree in Santa Clara Wednesday night

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

(BCN) -- A 51-year-old man died when his vehicle hit a tree near a U.S. Highway 101 off-ramp in Santa Clara on Wednesday night, according to the California Highway Patrol. The crash was reported at 8:53 p.m. at the Montague Expressway off-ramp from northbound Highway 101. Serial Bay Area shoplifter arrested 90 times Officers responded and determined that a 2000 Mercedes-Benz ML430 went off the off-ramp and struck a tree. The 51-year-old, a resident of Santa Clara and the sole occupant of the vehicle, was pronounced dead, CHP officials said.Investigators said alcohol appears to be a factor in the crash. The name of the driver who died was not immediately available.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Are you too sick to travel? A local doctor explains what symptoms to look for before canceling your trip

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

If you’re traveling for the holidays and start to feel sick, you may be worried about whether you should cancel your trip. WTOP spoke with a local doctor for details on what symptoms you should watch out for when making your decision.If all you have is a stuffy or runny nose that is two or three days old, Dr. Niharika Khanna, a professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine says, “you are not too sick to travel.”She said if it’s just a runny nose, you should wear a mask and probably don’t have to cancel your flight, but only if you aren’t visiting someone over the age of 65, someone who is immunocompromised, or babies.When should you stay at home and cancel that flight?“When you develop a fever, when you have severe headaches, when you have a productive cough that is recent … and you’re bringing up colorful mucus. If you haven’t seen the doctor yet, you don’t know what it i...

In Saudi Arabia’s stellar soccer year, federation boss sees 2034 World Cup fueling more rapid change

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s ambitions in soccer were made stunning and clear in 2023, and its upcoming 11-year journey toward hosting the men’s World Cup promises much more of the same.In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Saudi soccer federation president Yasser Al Misehal said sport and society in the oil-rich kingdom are going through transformational changes ahead of staging soccer’s biggest event in 2034.“We are trying to do everything for our people, for our economy and also we want to host as many people from all different places in the world,” Al Misehal said.Soccer has taken a prominent place in the Vision 2030 plan launched in 2016 to modernize the Saudi economy and society for a future beyond the oil production that fuels its spectacular wealth.The program was driven from its start by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then little known outside the region and now a key player in global politics.The Saudis’ statement year in soccer started with ...

Buccaneers host Jags as both look to remain in control of bids for division titles, playoff spots

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

JACKSONVILLE (8-6) AT TAMPA BAY (7-7)Sunday, 4:05 p.m. EST, CBSOPENING LINE: Buccaneers by 1½, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.AGAINST THE SPREAD: Jaguars 8-6; Buccaneers 9-4-1.SERIES RECORD: Jaguars lead 4-3.LAST MEETING: Buccaneers beat Jaguars 28-11 at Jacksonville on Dec. 1, 2019.LAST WEEK: Jaguars lost at home to Baltimore 23-7; Buccaneers won 34-20 at Green BayJAGUARS OFFENSE: OVERALL (12), RUSH (26), PASS (9), SCORING (T-10).JAGUARS DEFENSE: OVERALL (27), RUSH (12), PASS (29), SCORING (21)BUCCANEERS OFFENSE: OVERALL (23), RUSH (29), PASS (19), SCORING (20).BUCCANEERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (26), RUSH (9), PASS (31), SCORING (13)TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Jaguars plus-1; Buccaneers plus-6JAGUARS PLAYER TO WATCH: Second-year pro Travon Walker is coming off one of his best games. A linebacker and the No. 1 overall pick in 2022 had four tackles, including a sack, against Baltimore and often forced the Ravens to run to the opposite side of the defense. Walker has at least a half-sack in fou...

A woman shot with a crossbow and a priest stabbed in a rectory shake a small Nebraska town

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (AP) — The grisly killings of a retiree and then a priest has shocked everyone in tiny Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, including Sheriff Mike Robinson.He’s lived in the community just north of Omaha for 62 years and can’t recall a single homicide before these two.“It really is out of character,” Robinson said. “It’s a good town, good place to live, good place to raise your family.”Robinson says people have been troubled not only by the killings, but by the awful details of how their neighbors died in what appear to be random attacks.Linda Childers, 71, was killed Aug. 13, when she was shot with a crossbow three times and her throat was slit at her isolated home near a creek about a mile north of Fort Calhoun. Less than four months later, on Dec. 10, the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell, 65, was fatally stabbed during a break-in at the rectory next door to St. John the Baptist Church, where he had been set to lead Mass later that day.The brutal killings have shaken residents who have...

Man charged in fatal stabbing of DC woman arrested in Indiana

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

A man wanted in the deadly attack on a woman in Northwest D.C. Tuesday has been apprehended in Indiana.Alberto Valle-Carranza, 54, of Northwest D.C. was located and arrested in Michigan City, Indiana, Wednesday on charges of second-degree murder while armed, a D.C. police news release said. The police report lists the weapon used as an “ax/hatchet.”Just before 3 a.m. on Tuesday, police said they responded to the 1200 block of 11th Street in Northwest for a report of a domestic disturbance.There, police found 31-year-old Reyna Garcia-Lopez suffering from stab wound injuries, police said. She died at the scene.Police said Valle-Carranza will be extradited to D.C., where he will face charges.Source

Pacific storm dumps heavy rains, unleashes flooding in California coastal cities

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:11:58 GMT

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A Pacific storm pounded parts of Southern California on Thursday with heavy rain and street flooding, adding to hassles as holiday travel got underway. The downpours targeted coastal Ventura and Santa Barbara counties northwest of Los Angeles County, swamping areas in the cities of Port Hueneme, Oxnard and Santa Barbara.Rainfall rates exceeding 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) an hour unleashed flash flooding in Ventura County, the National Weather Service said. Later in the morning, streets began filling with water in parts of Santa Barbara as the storm delivered another deluge. The city of Port Hueneme issued evacuation orders for residences on four streets and warned of potential evacuations on four other streets. About 60 houses were affected by the orders, all in a senior citizen community, said Firefighter Andy VanSciver, a Ventura County fire spokesperson. An evacuation center was set up at a college gymnasium.Three people from the senior community were...