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The Legendary Beverly Hills Film Festival® Is Back and Better Than Ever

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:24 GMT

Photo Credit: Hideki Minoru / Caption: 2019 BHFF Legends Award Recipient and iconic producer Mike Medavoy with BHFF Jury member Kelly LeBrock and director Peter Medak (“The Ghost of Peter Sellers”), who went home with both the Golden Palm Award (best film in all categories) and the Special Jury Award for Best Documentary.The history of film festivals can be traced back to the early 20th century when the Venice Film Festival was founded in 1932. Since then, film festivals have become a global phenomenon, providing a platform for enthusiasts and filmmakers to showcase their work, and bring attention to new and innovative films.The International Beverly Hills Film Festival®, founded in 2001, is one of the most notable festivals in the heart of the entertainment industry, attracting tens of thousands of attendees each year.The city of Beverly Hills has a long and storied history in the film industry, having been home to many movie studios and celebrities over the years.The 23rd Annual I...

Meet Hectate Sports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:24 GMT

A new startup founded by serial entrepreneur U Jin will make streaming and betting from top sports leagues, from NFL to MLB, available to everyone around the world.In recent years, the sports industry has seen a significant shift toward digital platforms. It is a fast-growing market, projected to reach USD 87,338.11 Million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 21.26% from 2021 to 2028. Fans now consume sports content and engage with their favorite teams and athletes through online channels more than ever before. Serial entrepreneur U Jin Jo is leading this market through an AI-generated platform that is going to make streaming and betting available for everyone around the world.The founder of HECATE Sports is U Jin Jo, who is known to have worked in the Olympics and is a neighbor and a friend to several famous athletes and coaches.In September 2023, the app named HECATE Sports is set to enter the sports streaming and betting arena. From NBA, Premier League, to E-sports such as Electronic S...

Photos: Be Brad Pitt’s new neighbor; rare Carmel home listed for $8.8 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:24 GMT

A property in the picturesque Carmel Highlands coastal community, a popular enclave for celebrities, is for sale for $8.8 million.Last summer Brad Pitt paid $40 million for a home in the secluded area overlooking the Pacific. Other previous residents include Betty White, Little Mermaid composer Alan Silvestri, and others. A nearby home was also featured in the Sharon Stone thriller Basic Instinct.A property in the Carmel Highlands, a popular enclave for celebrities, is for sale for $8.8 million. (Wayne Chapel) The previous owner of the midcentury modern- style home was the late U.S. Postmaster General and former CEO of First Nationwide bank, Anthony Frank. The property has a coveted design built on rocks that extends out over the Pacific. And it is one of few homes in the area that has a stairway that leads to a hidden beach. Today, new buildings are not allowed so close to the water to preserve the area’s natural beauty.A property in the Carmel Highlands, a popular enclave for...

George Floyd killing: Appeals court upholds Derek Chauvin’s murder conviction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:24 GMT

By Steve Karnowski | Associated PressMINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s second-degree murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd, and let his 22½-year sentence remain in place.Chauvin’s attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officer’s convictions for a long list of reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity. He also argued that legal and procedural errors deprived Chauvin of a fair trial. But the three-judge panel sided with prosecutors who said Chauvin got a fair trial and just sentence.Floyd died May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin the Black man’s neck to the ground for 9½ minutes. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racis...

San Jose recreation center owner strikes deal to sell complex to developer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:24 GMT

SAN JOSE — A tennis and swimming center that’s been a familiar presence in San Jose’s Willow Glen district for decades is slated to be bought by a real estate firm and replaced by housing, public documents show.TTLC Management, which is affiliated with The True Life Cos., has struck a deal to purchase a property at 1170 Pedro Street in San Jose, which at present is the site of San Jose Swim & Racquet Club.The Norman A. Lariviere Trust has reached an agreement with TTLC Management to sell the 3.3-acre site in San Jose, documents filed on March 1 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.True Life Cos. has filed documents with San Jose city planners whereby the developer would bulldoze the recreation complex and build 85 “attached homes” on the site.The residences are expected to be townhomes, sources familiar with the city documents say.Carolyn Lund acted as the trustee and conservator for the Norman A. Lariviere Trust in the contract ...

Bay Area concerts: Berkeley Bluegrass, Backseat Lovers, Steven Curtis Chapman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:24 GMT

Here are three upcoming music events worth catching in the Bay Area and surrounding regions:Berkeley Bluegrass FestivalThe three-night event, set for April 21-23 at the legendary Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, features Peter Rowan, Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands, Larry & Joe, Tray Wellington and other talented artists. Showtime is 7 p.m. Tickets are $25-$55 per concert or $125 for a three-night pass; thefreight.org.Steven Curtis ChapmanThe multi-Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, who has also won dozens upon dozens of Dove Awards, will bring smiles to the faces of fans during two Northern California shows. Chapman, who has reportedly sold more than 10 million albums during a career that stretches back to the late ’80s, performs April 22 at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey (7 p.m.; $22.75-$88) and April 23 at the Uptown Theatre in Napa (7 p.m.; $34 and up). See stevencurtischapman.com for details.Backseat LoversThe alt-rock act from Provo, Utah checks into the Fox ...

More racist Antioch police text messages released by District Attorney

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:24 GMT

ANTIOCH, Calif. (KRON) -- More racist text messages exchanged between Antioch police officers came to light on Monday when the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office released a second investigative report to the media.The egregiously racist text messages and images were sent and received by certain Antioch Police Department officers in 2020 and 2021. A judge ordered the District Attorney's Office to disclose redacted investigative reports to defense attorneys whose clients were arrested by police officers named in the reports. The first 21-page report was released on April 13, followed by the second 14-page report on Monday. The texts were described by Police Chief Steve Ford as "racially abhorrent." Officers used language containing racial slurs, and referred to Black people as "zoo" and "circus" animals. "Bro the circus is in town… but it seems they only brought monkeys," Officer Aaron Hughes wrote on May 4, 2020, according to the report. Officer Jonathan Adams wrote on Ma...

Leaked Pentagon Doc Gives Unprecedented U.S. Intel View Into Secret Yemen War Talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:24 GMT

A highly classified Pentagon document sheds light on what the United Nations has deemed the worst humanitarian crisis in the world: war-torn Yemen. Pitting Saudi Arabia, the richest country in the Middle East, against Yemen, the poorest, the conflict has seen some 85,000 Yemeni children under age 5 die of starvation since the conflict began.The assessment is a window into the strategic calculus of Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, Yemen’s de facto ruling tribe, in the final weeks before the Chinese government brokered a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which backs the Houthi movement.Since the détente, the Saudis have reportedly agreed to much more significant concessions than were on offer in mid-February, demonstrating that a more direct path to peace was available given the right diplomatic maneuvering. If successful, the ceasefire bid would put an end to a grinding war that has brought Yemen to the brink of famine.At the time the classified Pentagon memo was written, how...

Families displaced from California neighborhood seek $2B

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:24 GMT

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — As a child, Lawrance W. McFarland lived on a small piece of land on a Native American reservation in Palm Springs he described as a “little world of its own,” surrounded by the parts of the city that were tourist magnets and depicted in movies.The retiree, who now lives in Mississippi, recently recalled seeing houses of the diverse, tight-knit community being torn and burned down in the square-mile area known as Section 14. “We thought they were just cleaning up some of the old houses,” he said. But eventually his family was told to vacate their home, and McFarland, his mother and his younger brother hopped around from house to house before leaving the area altogether and moving to Cabazon, a small town about 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Palm Springs. Decades later, Palm Springs’ city council is reckoning with those actions, voting in 2021 to issue a formal apology to former residents for the city’s role in displacing them from the neighborhood that m...

Arlington to allow students to carry naloxone in schools as part of opioid prevention efforts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:24 GMT

Arlington Public Schools in Virginia is moving forward with a plan that will enable students to carry naloxone — the generic form of the overdose-reversing drug Narcan — in school by the end of May.At Thursday’s board meeting, Superintendent Francisco Duran said the county is aiming for students to be able to carry naloxone by May 26.Schools in Arlington, Virginia, detail plans to allow students to carry naloxone in schools. (Courtesy Arlington Public Schools)The announcement comes after the Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan as an over-the-counter medication last month.The county has reported a rise in youth overdoses this year, and has hosted community conversations and sessions on how to use the potentially life-saving drug. Several D.C.-area school systems, including Montgomery County, Maryland, have done the same.A school system spokesman said the county won’t be providing it to all students to carry, but it will remain available in emergency boxes in seco...