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Judy Blume is entertaining, relevant at Denver’s Women + Film Fest

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:10:42 GMT

Author Judy Blume isn’t just a culture changer. Effervescent and wise, the 85-year-old writer of YA lit (before it was a hot genre) is the star of “Judy Blume Forever.” Entertaining and revealing, the documentary by Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok is the fitting and fun (and occasionally infuriating)  opening night offering of the Women + Film Fest, which runs April 13-16.A lit star of the YA genre before it had that designation, Judy Blume shines in the documentary “Judy Blume Forever.” Courtesy Amazon Studios.It’s also timely: Earlier this week, the writer, who lives in Key West, Fla., pointedly criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his stance on the banning of some books in public schools.The 14th installment of one of Denver Film’s most successful and enduring branded festivals features notable films (Sundance documentary winner “The Eternal Memory”); filmmakers (Kelly Reichardt and Maite Alberdi); and compelling subjects (sex researcher Shere Hite, Black Barbie and...

What is Roman pizza? Find out at new spot on the Sixteenth Street Mall

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:10:42 GMT

The restaurant: Sofia’s Roman Pizza, 1530 16th Street MallAbout: The fast-casual restaurant serves square, bready “Roman-style” pizza slices, along with salads and Italian-inspired cocktails, beer and wine. Sophia’s is part of a small Denver-based restaurant concept company called Work + Shop, which has a few other food and beverage businesses, including a coffee shop and a barbecue restaurant, in Seattle and Colorado.Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | La Fillette Bakery reopens in larger space, adds brunch and booze Restaurants, Food and Drink | Comal Heritage Food Incubator will move to RiNo ArtPark Restaurants, Food and Drink | Denver Biscuit. Co, Fat Sully’s and Atomic Cowboy opening in Golden Restaurants, Food and Drink | Domo Japanese restaurant will reopen, despite closure last year Restaurants, Food and Drink | Kings of Wings reopens this weekend, more than a year af...

XXXTentacion's convicted killers sentenced to life in prison

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:10:42 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Three men were given life sentences on Thursday for the 2018 killing of star rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot outside a South Florida motorcycle shop while being robbed of $50,000.Michael Boatwright, 28, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24, were each convicted last month of first-degree murder and armed robbery by a jury following eight days of deliberations. Prosecutors had not sought the death penalty, so life in prison was the only sentence that Broward County Circuit Judge Michael Usan could impose for the first-degree murder convictions.During the month-long trial, prosecutors linked Boatwright, Williams and Newsome to the June 18, 2018, shooting outside Riva Motorsports in suburban Fort Lauderdale through extensive surveillance video taken inside and outside the store, plus cellphone videos the men took showing themselves flashing fistfuls of $100 bills hours after the slaying. Prosecutors also had the testimony of a fourth man, Robert A...

Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week: Jasmine Whorley, Alameda softball

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:10:42 GMT

Alameda softball player Jasmine Whorley is the Bay Area News Group’s high school girls athlete of the week for March 27-April 1 after she received 46.04% of the vote at the 5 p.m. deadline Wednesday.Saratoga softball player Lily Guzman (31.78%) placed second and Willow Glen softball player Alanna Clincy was third.Congratulations to all the candidates for this week’s recognition.Whorley, a junior pitcher, led Alameda to two victories last week, striking out 16 in 12 innings against Arroyo and Encinal. Whorley also had four hits and scored a run for the 6-3 Hornets.To nominate an athlete for next week’s poll, email [email protected] by Monday, April 10, at 11 a.m. Please include stats and team results.We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches/team statisticians for consideration.Winners are announced each Friday on the Mercury News & East Bay Times websites and, starting Sept. 30, in the print edition of the Mercury News and EB Times sports sec...

7 charts that explain California’s wild winter of 2023

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:10:42 GMT

If there ever was a winter to check off squares on your Wild Weather Bingo card, 2023 was it.More than 30 atmospheric river storms. 97 mph wind gusts. Destructive tidal surges. Bomb cyclones. Flash floods. Levee breaks. The Fujiwhara Effect. Snow piled more than 240 inches deep at Mammoth Pass. One of the rainiest days on record in San Francisco.We were pelted by hail and easily belted out “bingo!” more than once.As California catches its breath from the epic deluges — warm, sunny weather is in the forecast next week after light rain on Friday — now seems like a good time to take stock of this strange winter. Just how “over” is the drought, and how unusual has this season of rain really been? Here are seven charts to help with the answers.1. The drought is done in most of the state“For most purposes, the drought is over,” said Jay Lund, a California water expert and professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Davis.The maps above, creat...

Breaking down the Warriors’ tiebreakers in the West’s crowded middle

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:10:42 GMT

As the Warriors enter the NBA’s final weekend, there is still a lot left to determine in terms of playoff positioning.The Dubs head to Sacramento on Friday as the No. 6 seed in the West but could finish anywhere from the No. 5 seed all the way down to No. 9, depending on how this weekend goes.The NBA’s defending champs will finish their regular season at Portland on Sunday afternoon after the road game at Sacramento, giving the Warriors a chance to try and find their rhythm away from Chase Center. The Dubs carry a 9-30 road record into this weekend, making them one of only four teams in the NBA to lose 30 or more road games this season. The other three are the league’s three-worst teams: Houston, Detroit and San Antonio.Could there be some strategizing about potential opponents heading into this weekend? Teams obviously want to avoid the play-in tournament, but the new-look Phoenix Suns, with Kevin Durant added next to Devin Booker, are locked into the No. 4 seed and may be a ...

Athletics head on difficult eastern swing vs. Rays, Orioles as a work in progress

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:10:42 GMT

The Athletics came out of a three-game series against one of the better teams in the American League with a sense of optimism.Yes, they lost two of three to the Cleveland Guardians. But the series included two clutch game-tying homers that forced extra innings sandwiched around a walk-off win in the ninth.They lost both of the 10-inning games, 12-11 in the series opener and 6-4 on Wednesday. In terms of wins and losses, it was the same result as the opening series against the Los Angeles Angels — one win, two losses.But considering the A’s went silent in the second two games against the Angels and lost by a combined 19-1 after a 2-1 victory on Opening Night, the series against Cleveland was a major upgrade in terms of quality of play.“There are some wins in this team,” first baseman Ryan Noda said. “They’re coming.”The A’s, with their roster turnover, are the land of opportunity for young players. Noda was a Rule 5 acquisition from the...

Editorial: Drug scheme calls for independent probe of why San Jose cops missed it

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:10:42 GMT

How could the executive director of the San Jose police union conduct an alleged opioid-smuggling operation for years right under the noses of the city’s officers?Residents deserve to know not only whether any cops broke the law but also whether they ignored the actions of their union leader. That’s why San Jose city officials should commission an independent investigation to determine if police in any way enabled or simply ignored the dealing of deadly illegal drugs from their union office.The behavior of our police — whether it’s on duty or off, whether it’s in San Jose, Oakland, Antioch or any other city — is of great public concern given the enormity of the power and responsibility with which they are entrusted. It’s not just a matter of whether they followed the law, it’s also whether they ensured others did, too. If they suspected a crime was being committed, they had an obligation to report it.The union’s civilian executive director, Joanne Segovia, fa...

Tahoe historic resort deal helps tech tycoon Larry Ellison grab profit

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:10:42 GMT

A renowned and historic resort perched on Lake Tahoe’s shoreline has been bought and is headed for a dramatic revamp in a deal that bestowed a tidy profit on the property’s seller, tech tycoon Lawrence Ellison.Cal Neva Lodge, which straddles the California-Nevada border on Tahoe’s north shore, has been bought by a real estate investment firm that plans to revive the old resort — whose owners have included Frank Sinatra — as a boutique luxury hotel.The deal’s value is in the neighborhood of $58 million, according to real estate records on file in Nevada’s Washoe County and public documents in California’s Placer County.This means Ellison appears to have turned a profit on the property, which the Oracle founder bought in 2018, according to a deed filed at that time. Ellison, acting through a venture capital affiliate, paid $38.6 million for the property.Over the five years that Ellison owned the property, little if any work was done on t...

Opinion: To give Easter its full due, first confront reality of death

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:10:42 GMT

To give Easter its full due, we must first confront the reality of death.This recognition challenges us because we have successfully hidden dying.Because death remains culturally invisible — and because we so intuitively recognize life’s reality — it often feels as though death hardly exists at all.We may vaguely sense its reality hovering on the periphery of our perception but soon dismiss such thoughts as unproductive, fatalistic and frightening.As a cancer doctor, however, I cannot avoid confronting death.It stalks my patients. It hovers over our most important conversations — my patients sense its approach from afar.Sometimes, when I work in the hospital, I am called to “pronounce” a death — that is, I must certify a patient has expired.This is what I find:Within seconds, what was previously a person transforms into a body — nothing more. Death halts the breathing, stills the heart, extinguishes the spark and robs the face of laughter, anguish, joy ...