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Jewish man attacked in apparent hate crime in Beverly Hills speaks out

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:20:47 GMT

Raphy Nissel, an Orothodox Jew who was assaulted by a man while walking to his synagogue in Beverly Hills on Saturday, is sharing his story.The attack happened in the area of North Rexford Drive and North Santa Monica Boulevard just after 9 a.m. "We’re Orthodox Jews and so we do not use the car on Shabbat, on Saturday, we walk,” Raphy told KTLA's Rachel Menitoff.  As the couple made their way to synagogue, they were confronted by a man wielding a belt, who police later identified as 44-year-old L.A. resident Jarris Jay Silagi.  “He held it in his hand," Rebecca Nissel, Raphy’s wife, said. “He hit my husband over the head and he yelled, ‘Give me your earrings, Jew.’”  For his part, Raphy said at the start of the attack he didn’t know what the man was hitting him with.  “I didn’t realize what it was, but it was very heavy, very hard and very painful,” he explained. “But I didn’t fall down. I just was perplexed at what was going on.”  The couple chased their attacke...

1 hurt in 6-car crash on 101 Freeway in Hollywood

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:20:47 GMT

At least one person was hurt in a six-car crash on the 101 Freeway in Hollywood Monday morning.The crash resulted in a closure of all southbound freeway lanes at Sunset Boulevard at about 2:30 a.m., the California Highway Patrol said on X, formerly Twitter. That SigAlert was lifted a little more than an hour later.Footage from the scene shows multiple damaged vehicles and debris strewn across the roadway. The CHP said six vehicles were involved in the crash.CHP officials told KTLA that they have received reports that the crash was caused by a wrong-way driver, but that remains under investigation.One person was transported from the scene, and their condition is unknown.

Bronny James makes USC debut after health scare

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:20:47 GMT

(The Hill) -- LeBron “Bronny” James Jr. made his collegiate debut with his team, the University of Southern California Trojans, on Sunday, months after suffering a cardiac arrest episode during a summer workout session. The standout freshman, who came off the bench and was on minute restriction made by his head coach Andy Enfield, tallied four points (on 1-3 shooting), three rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 16 minutes in his team 84-79 overtime loss to Long Beach State, according to ESPN. Bronny James of the USC Trojans reacts to a play during the first half against the Long Beach State 49ers at Galen Center on December 10, 2023. (Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)The debut of LeBron James’ eldest child brought out a sold-out crowd and a filled-out student section to its contest against its in-state rival, as some fans attended the game wearing either James Jr. USC Trojans jerseys or his father’s Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers jerseys, according to...

'Barbie' leads the pack for 2024 Golden Globe nominations

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:20:47 GMT

It's a Barbie world! The 2024 Golden Globe nominations were announced Monday morning by Cedric "The Entertainer" and Wilmer Valderrama, and the Greta Gerwig-directed film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling leads the pack with nine nominations. In the meantime, “Oppenheimer,” which was released on the same day scored eight nominations.Here is the full list of nominations here: Best Motion Picture – Drama“Anatomy of a Fall”Killers of the Flower Moon”“Maestro”“Oppenheimer”“Past Lives”“The Zone Of Interest”Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy“Air”“American Fiction”“Barbie”“The Holdovers”“May December”“Poor Things”Best Motion Picture – Animated“The Boy and The Heron”“Elemental”“Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse”“The Super Mario Bros. Movie”“Suzume”“Wish”Cinematic And Box Office Achievement“Barbie”“Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3”“John Wick: Chapter 4”“Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1”“Oppenheimer”“Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse”“The Super Mario&nbs...

Correction: Pro-Palestinian teach-in in Oakland

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:20:47 GMT

A story that ran Thursday, Dec. 7, on the front page incorrectly stated the number of people Hamas terrorists killed in Israel on Oct. 7. Hamas killed about 1,200 people.

Wish You Were Here: On the golf courses of Scotland

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:20:47 GMT

These last months have seen our readers traveling the world, exploring the glories of Bath, England, home to ancient Roman baths and plenty of Jane Austen lore, and trekking through Portugal. Along the way, they’ve shared their discoveries and offered travel tips, so we can go too.Here’s the latest installment, this time from a trio of golf devotees just back from Scotland.WISH YOU WERE HERESCOTLAND: In September, three longtime San Jose friends — from left, Larry Schiro, Al Sardella and Dan Peterson at the Carnoustie Golf Hotel — spent 12 days golfing and sightseeing in Scotland. “Just an unbelievable trip for friendships that are 60+ years!” Al says. “We booked our golf bucket list trip with Hidden Links, (which) arranged our lodging and transportation in Scotland as well as booking tee times at Eden, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie Championship course. Given there are so many golf courses in Scotland, (we) easily booked tee times at other cours...

The Italian town where Santa Claus is buried

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:20:47 GMT

By Silvia Marchetti | CNNEveryone knows that Santa will be doing the rounds at Christmas, squeezing down chimneys, knocking back glasses of whiskey, leaving presents under trees and ho-ho-ho-ing all the way back to the North Pole in his flying sled.Or – and you’ll want to ask children to look away at this point – will he actually just be lying dead beneath a church named after him in a port in southern Italy?The town of Bari, located on the heel of Italy’s boot, has laid claim to this alternate Santa story for nearly 1,000 years after the bearded gift-giver’s remains were said to have been interred beneath a church that bears his name.Santa here is Saint Nicholas, globally acknowledged as the man who inspired the Santa Claus legend. Nicholas, also known as Niklaus or Nicola, was a real-life Christian saint born, not in the frozen north, but in Myra, in what is today Turkey.Saint Nick, it is believed, was born around 270 C.E., and died 67 years later. He was revered around the Medite...

49ers great Ronnie Lott is still making a big impact on the Bay Area

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:20:47 GMT

Ronnie Lott is staring up at the walls in his Santa Clara office, looking at framed photos of him and fellow sports greats Chris Mullin, Magic Johnson and Joe Montana.“If you said, ‘What’s the second best thing they like?’” the 64-year-old San Francisco 49ers legend and Football Hall of Famer says of the impressive cast of characters. “The first thing is they love playing. The second thing is they love helping.”Those same words can be said about many of the notable sports figures that Lott, a longtime South Bay resident, has known through the decades, from legendary Raiders coach John Madden to all-universe hockey talent Wayne Gretzky.Former San Francisco 49ers Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott stand on the sidelines during the NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals at Levi’s Stadium on December 20, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) And that most certainly can be said about Lott himself, who, more than a quarte...

3 awesome whale festivals in spring 2024 to see in Northern California

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:20:47 GMT

Every year from winter to spring the California coast sees a huge migration of gray whales, commuting between their breeding grounds off Baja California, Mexico, to their feeding spots in the Arctic. To celebrate the passing of these big creatures, California holds big whale festivals in the spring where you can enjoy chowder, good wine, live music and, with luck, see whales blowing spouts on the ocean horizon. (Fun fact: Gray-whale spouts look like hearts.)The dates for several of Northern California’s whale fests for 2024 include three great ones within striking distance of the Bay Area. With COVID rising and dipping all the time, it’s best to check the status of the fests before hitting the road; but without ado, here are the cetacean celebrations scheduled so far:Fort Bragg Whale Fest: March 15-17, 2024This Mendocino city has a fully loaded schedule for this year’s Whale Fest – “like the migrating leviathans we celebrate, bigger and better than ever,̶...

Animal life: Have marmots taken over a Saratoga backyard?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:20:47 GMT

DEAR JOAN: I have an acre and half of land, and the bottom half is covered with large twig houses that the marmots are building. They are stealing my persimmons and I am sure they are storing them.There are at least seven large mounds and I need to get rid of them. Do you have any  suggestions?I think they are also tearing off the leaves of the persimmons, probably for nesting material. They are also going after my neighbors trees.Diana Anderson, SaratogaDEAR DIANA: I think we might have a case of mistaken identity. Yosemite and the higher elevations are home to the yellow-bellied marmot, which also is known as a groundhog. The Yosemite variety is much smaller than the groundhogs we associate with Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil.So while we don’t have any of the large- or medium-sized marmots in the Bay Area, we do have plenty of their smaller cousins, the ground squirrels. However, the marmots, groundhogs and ground squirrels do not build stick nests. They dig tunnels and creat...