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7 incredible Bay Area things to do this weekend, April 14-16

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:10 GMT

From the S.F. Film Festival and the return of “Blindspotting” to some killer desserts and Iranian art, there is a lot to savor this weekend. So let’s get busy, shall we?As with everything these days, be sure to double check 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 WATCH: Here comes the S.F. Film FestivalThe annual festival has scores of movies in its lineup, but the one everyone’s talking about centers on a certain Bay Area basketball legend.Lemon Posset is a British dessert made with just whipping cream, sugar and lemons, topped with fresh blueberries or raspberries. (America’s Test Kitchen) 2 MAKE & DEVOUR: Divine dessertsYou’ve worked hard all week (and, heck, even if you haven’t, we’ll let you skate) so you des...

Snoopy is real! Meet Bayley, the cartoon dog’s doppelganger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:10 GMT

By Dan Heching | CNNCalling all cute pet lovers, i.e., everyone.The Instagram account for a certain Mini Sheepadoodle named Bayley is going viral, thanks to the adorable black-and-white pooch’s astounding and uncanny resemblance to Snoopy, the canine mascot for the Peanuts cartoon troupe.Bayley, who according to the pup’s Instagram page will be two years old next month, sports the same oblong face as Snoopy, along with the exact same color distribution — a white face and muzzle, adorable round black nose and furry, floppy black ears.RELATED: A tad taller than a teacup, puny pup Pearl is now a world record holderThe pooch is also surprisingly photogenic, posing calmly for perfect photos and video throughout the pet-centric social media page.While Snoopy is known to be a beagle, Bayley’s breed of Mini Sheepadoodle — the result of crossing an Old English Sheepdog with a Miniature Poodle — has resulted in a near carbon copy of the drawn animal, in rea...

Court order says abortion drug can remain available but keeps restrictions on mailing pill

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:10 GMT

A federal appeals court late Wednesday night froze parts of a Texas judge’s order that would have suspended the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a medication abortion drug.But the court only partially granted the request by the Justice Department and the drug’s manufacturer to put US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling on hold, with the panel effectively making the drug harder to obtain.The appeals court orders a return to the stricter, pre-2016 FDA regime around the drug, which prevents mailing the pill to patients who obtained it through telehealth, or virtual visits with their providers rather than traveling to a clinic or hospital in person to obtain the drug.The restrictions also affect the instructions on the label for the medication, shortening the window of obtaining the pill to seven weeks into pregnancy as opposed to 10. It’s possible however that even with the ruling in effect, some providers could go “off label” and continue to prescribe mifepristone u...

Kurtenbach: The Kings used the Warriors’ blueprint to break their curse, but it’ll take more than emulation to beat Golden State

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:10 GMT

You need to know two things about Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé:The first is that he, despite never playing basketball himself, coached his 12-year-old daughter’s Redwood City team to the national championships by utilizing a full-court press the entire game.The second is that he loved being a co-owner of the Warriors before he sold his share of the Dubs to buy the Kings and keep the team in Sacramento.These two things are not unrelated.While the Kings broke ground on Golden 1 Center under Ranadivé’s leadership, the Warriors broke the code of the NBA. (And then they built their own arena in San Francisco.)And while Ranadivé has been smart enough not to go on the record and say, “I’m trying to emulate the Warriors,” his actions have spoken louder than words.Ranadivé’s first move as the Kings’ owner was to hire then-Warriors assistant Michael Malone as head coach. His first free-agent signing was former Warriors forward Carl Landry. Ov...

Borenstein: Three years into pandemic, it’s still unclear who is in charge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:10 GMT

More than three years after the pandemic began, legal confusion remains in California over who’s in charge at the local level during an emergency of issues such as curfews and eviction moratoriums.Uncertainty over authority exacerbated tensions during the early months of the pandemic. Now that almost all restrictions have been lifted, it’s time to use the calm before the next storm, fire, flood, earthquake or pandemic to resolve the thorny issues of jurisdiction.The dispute is not whether Gov. Gavin Newsom had the power to impose emergency orders and make temporary changes to state law. He did. The state’s appellate courts resolved that dispute.Rather, as a recent Bay Area court case showed, the uncertainty is at the local level over whether counties during emergencies can set rules within cities. Or is county jurisdiction limited to unincorporated areas outside municipal boundaries?Lack of clarity has potentially life-altering implications for emergency responses if they are delaye...

Opinion: ‘I’m sorry, but you no longer have health insurance’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:10 GMT

“I’m sorry. You no longer have health insurance.”Up to 14 million Americans are now at risk of hearing those words at the worst possible moment — in the ER clutching their pained chest or bleeding from an accident, or at their doctor’s office seeking to stabilize a spike in their asthma or diabetes. As one result of ending the U.S. COVID Emergency Declaration, the pandemic continuous enrollment provisions for Medicaid ended on April 1. Medicaid recipients who were protected from disenrollment during the pandemic can be disenrolled now if their eligibility status has changed. Many may not realize that they are required to recertify for eligibility.It is right to end the COVID Emergency Declaration. It is not right that the American insurance sector fails to attain universal coverage, the standard of all other industrialized democracies. It is not right that insurance in America is so complex that people may not know if they are covered. Puzzlingly, health care finance reform ha...

Calvary Chapel in San Jose ordered to pay $1.2M in Covid-19 fines

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:10 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- The latest ruling in a yearslong battle between Santa Clara County and Calvary Chapel in San Jose ordered the church to pay $1.2 million in administrative fines, including interest, according to a news release. The fines date back to 2020 when Santa Clara County said the church blatantly violated public health orders during the Covid-19 pandemic by continuously holding large in-door church services and not requiring face coverings or social distancing.The church said the orders prevented it from exercising its religious freedom and violated the constitution—claim that was rejected by the judge with the courts saying, “It should appear clear to all—regardless of religious affiliation—that wearing a mask while worshiping one’s god and communing with other congregants is a simple, unobtrusive, giving way to protect others while still exercising your right to religious freedom. Unfortunately, defendants repeatedly refused to model, much less, enforce this ges...

Feinstein asks for Judiciary replacement after calls for resignation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:10 GMT

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced on Wednesday that her return to work in Washington has been delayed due to ongoing health complications and called on the Senate to appoint a temporary replacement for her on the Judiciary Committee. Her announcement came hours after Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) called for her to resign from the chamber. Feinstein has been sidelined since late February after being diagnosed with shingles. Her absence, coupled with that of Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), has left Democrats working at an even 49-49 at best during that time. However, Feinstein’s post on the Senate Judiciary Committee has meant that the panel has been unable to advance partisan nominees through to floor votes over that period.“When I was first diagnosed with shingles, I expected to return by the end of the March work period. Unfortunately, my return to Washington has been delayed due to continued complications related to my diagnosis,” Feinstein said...

Australia’s most powerful cyclone in 8 years to cross coast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:10 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A tropical cyclone nearing Australia is forecast to be the most powerful storm in eight years to hit the country, bringing wind gusts of up to 315 kilometers (196 miles) per hour as it crosses the northwest coast, meteorologists said Thursday.Cyclones are common along the sparsely populated Pilbara coast of Western Australia state and fatalities are rare, but authorities fear that Cyclone Ilsa’s extraordinary wind speeds could take some in its path by surprise.Ilsa reached the highest Category 5 intensity Thursday over the Indian Ocean and is expected to maintain that destructive level as it crosses the Pilbara coast by early Friday, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said.Category 5 cyclones have mean wind speeds exceeding 200 kph (124 mph) with gusts exceeding 280 kph (174 mph). They typically cause widespread destruction, the bureau said. The last Category 5 storm to cross the Australian coast was Cyclone Marcia in 2015. Marcia caused hundreds of million...

Biden says nothing of ‘great consequence’ in Pentagon leaks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:10 GMT

DUBLIN (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday said while he was concerned that sensitive government documents had been leaked, “there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that is of great consequence.” It was the first time Biden has commented publicly about the release of Pentagon documents that were posted on several social media sites. They appear to detail U.S. and NATO aid to Ukraine and U.S. intelligence assessments regarding U.S. allies that could strain ties with those nations. The Justice Department has opened an investigation. “I’m concerned that it happened, but there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that is of great consequence,” said Biden, who is in Dublin visiting with Irish leaders Thursday. Biden noted there was a “full-blown” investigation going on with the intelligence community and the Justice Department. “We’re getting close,” he said on answers. “But I don’t have an answer.” There’s no clear answ...